Pierce County Craigslist nanny charged with child rape

A University Place man who advertised child-care services on Craigslist is now charged with multiple counts of child rape and other sex crimes, Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist confirmed Wednesday.

Jonathan Harris, 26, is facing charges of four counts of child rape, as well as child molestation and child pornography. He is currently being held on $2 million bail, Lindquist said.

“The defendant originally gained access to one of the victims by answering an ad for a nanny on Craigslist. He then placed his own ads on Craigslist and found two more victims.”

Lindquist said a woman who hired Harris to watch her 5-year-old son contacted the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office Feb. 3, after her son told her Harris took him to a Super Bowl party and molested him.

Harris allegedly had “naked parties” with another victim after the boy’s mother hired him in 2011, where he repeatedly molested the child and took multiple videos and photos he stored on a computer hard drive.

Detectives served a search warrant at Harris’ home Feb. 6, arresting him and seizing his cell phone. They found naked photos of one of the boys on the phone, along with a text message reading “I would like to get him into a public bathroom or locker room so that he can see me and I can see him so he see that it is no big deal…once he is in that level of comfort things will move really quickly.”

“His behavior was escalating and he appeared to be grooming other victims,” Lindquist said.