Navy Chief Petty Officer sentenced to 25 years in prison for creating child sexual abuse material

NORFOLK, Va. - A Navy Chief Petty Officer was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to court documents, in December 2023, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Shane Matthew Harlacher, 39, used Facebook Messenger to send CSAM to another Facebook user. An investigation revealed that Harlacher, who was stationed in Gaeta, Italy, and previously lived in Virginia Beach, had used Facebook to share videos of bestiality and other sexually explicit images.

In April 2024, NCIS searched Harlacher, his residence in Italy, and his workspace and berthing aboard the USS Mount Whitney. In his immediate possession was a cellphone containing approximately 112 video files and 32 image files of CSAM, including a video of a toddler being sexually assaulted. It also contained numerous video and image files depicting surreptitious recordings of a 13-year-old victim, Jane Doe. Harlacher created these recordings of Jane Doe at the bathroom of his home in Virginia Beach.

NCIS seized three MicroSD cards from Harlacher's residence in Italy in April 2024 that contained surreptitious videos of Jane Doe recorded in the bathroom. Investigators seized another cellphone that contained the same videos of Jane Doe found on the other devices. NCIS also seized a one terabyte flash drive that contained CSAM, which Harlacher had transported from Virginia Beach to Italy.

NCIS investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Gantt prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District CourtLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACERLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. by searching for Case No. 2:25-cr-63.