Pocatello man charged with 10 counts of sexually exploitative material
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POCATELLO — A Pocatello man has been charged with 10 counts of sexually exploitative material after a cyber tip alerted him to police.
Rusty Wayne Harris, 55, has been charged with 10 counts of possession of sexually exploitative material. If found guilty, Harris could spend up to 100 years in prison and pay a fine of up to $100,000.
On April 1, 2025, detectives from the Pocatello Police Department received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The reporting electronic service provider was Kik, which provided the username “fun0278” which had reportedly been used to upload 23 files of sexually exploitative material depicting children.
Other details allegedly provided by Kik included the email address “harris.rustyw@gmail.com” According to court documents, the account had been created Dec. 4, 2024.
Detectives were reportedly able to search the name “Rusty Harris” in Pocatello Police databases to identify and locate Harris.
Court documents state that detectives confirmed the 23 reported files of child pornography, and that all of the files depicted girls below the age of 14 in various videos of sexual assault and rape.
In addition to the 23 files of sexually exploitative material, detectives allegedly located “selfies” of Harris on the Kik account, as well as conversations with other users where Harris was requesting and paying for child sexual abuse material, according to court documents. In one conversation, requests were made, specifically seeking child pornography of girls between the ages of 8 and 12, according to court documents.
According to court documents, detectives located a pre-paid debit card used to buy sexually exploitative material as well as screenshots of “Cash App” transactions.
Court documents also showed another conversation found on the Kik account in which Harris claims to have paid $250 to have sex with three underage girls and that the parents of said girls had “helped the girls participate in sexual acts.” Harris claimed the family was in Idaho but did not provide any specific details about the identity of the family.
On Aug. 19, officers from the Pocatello Police Department executed a search warrant on Harris’ place of residence and Harris was located and detained.
Documents state that during interviews with detectives, Harris admitted the Kik account “fun0278” belonged to him and also admitted to veiwing, receiving and paying for child sexual abuse materials. He reportedly denied having any physical sexual contact with children and said the aforementioned conversations were “only fantasies.”