Ex-Air Force special agent sentenced to 10 years for sexually abusing a minor

A former special agent in the U.S. Air Force was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for enticement of a minor in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman announced.

Joshua Carl Harrod of Spanaway was initially charged in July 2021 and eventually pleaded guilty in October 2023. The conduct occurred in the location where he resided on Joint Base Lewis–McChord (JBLM), an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction, the DOJ noted in a statement emailed to KIRO Newsradio.

“According to records filed in the case, between October 2017 and April 2018, Harrod sexually molested a young child left in his care,” the DOJ stated.

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle said the crimes were “sadistic” and “indescribably cruel.”

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Harrod, 44, also pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a government agency for his efforts to falsify phone records related to evidence in the case, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

In addition to the prison sentence, Settle also ordered Harrod remain supervised release for the rest of his life.

“The consequences of many crimes before me do not have the impact that this one does,” the judge said when handing down Harrod’s sentence. “Victims of these crimes carry with them a life sentence.”

Harrod separated from the Air Force in 2018 and, prior to his arrest in this case, served as a recruiter for the Army National Guard in Lakewood.

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The investigation into Harrod was spearheaded by the FBI with assistance from the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), JBLM Military Police Investigations, the Lakewood Police Department and Washington State Patrol.