Bristol man sentenced to state prison for sexually assaulting children and sharing videos of the assaults online

More than two dozen people crowded into a Doylestown courtroom Friday afternoon to confront a Bristol man who, prosecutors said, subjected three children to sexual abuse, much of which he filmed and distributed online as child pornography.

Brian Harris, 29, pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, photographing minors engaged in sexual acts, indecent assault and related crimes for the abuse, which took place between September 2018 and September 2023.

Bucks County Court Judge Gary B. Gilman sentenced him afterward to 18 to 42 years in state prison.

The parents of Harris’ victims addressed him in court, describing how he had betrayed their trust. The mother of one of the boys said Harris shattered her sense of security by abusing her son and sharing recordings of his crimes with “other predators” online

“This man is not merely a predator; he is a master manipulator and a danger to society,” she said. “His ability to deceive and exploit the trust of those around him is profound. He should never be trusted to walk freely among us again.”

Investigators became aware of Harris in October, when they received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed for his arrest. From that tip, county detectives received information that a Snapchat account registered to Harris had uploaded an explicit picture of an underage girl.

After serving a search warrant at Harris’ home on Pond Street in Bristol, investigators discovered more than 500 images of child pornography, including some videos in which Harris exposes himself to and performs sex acts on a boy. Other videos showed Harris abusing the other victims, including a 2-year-old boy, while they were sleeping.

Investigators were able to identify Harris as the one filming the videos based on a distinctive black ring depicted in them. Harris was wearing that same ring when he was arrested last year.

One of the victims, now 12, later told prosecutors that Harris had abused him multiple times between 2019 and 2020 at a home in Morrisville. The evidence recovered from electronic devices belonging to Harris showed other instances of sexual contact with that boy that took place in 2022 in Fallsington, also in Bucks County.

That boy on Friday told Gilman, the judge, how Harris’ actions had permanently damaged him. He struggles to make relationships, he said, and is constantly reminded of the assaults.

“I don’t trust the world around me. I’m scared all of the time when I am out in public because I never know who might also be an abuser. I always feel anxious, and on high alert,” the boy said.

“Even with people who are supposed to keep me safe, like teachers, doctors, family, and coaches, I question if they really care about me, because there was a time I believed the defendant cared about me, too.”

Harris’ cache of child pornography included folders with the names of the two other victims, the affidavit said. Within those folders were videos and images of sexual acts, including him forcing the then-2-year-old to touch his penis.

Detectives also discovered chat logs between Harris and other, unidentified people in which Harris brags about molesting the children and describes the pleasure he derived from doing so, according to the affidavit.