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Police Arrest Father for 'sexting' while was dying

Published

10 years ago

July 4, 2014

Surprising claims came to light during a hearing Thursday for a Georgia man whose toddler son died after being left in a hot car, a man prosecutors sought to portray as an unfaithful husband who wanted a child-free life.

Among the most shocking allegations: Justin Ross Harris messaged six women, sending and receiving explicit texts — some including nude images — from work while his 22-month-old was dying, a detective testified at the hearing.
Harris’ attorney repeatedly objected to Cobb County, Georgia, police Detective Phil Stoddard’s testimony claiming that Harris sexted the women — one of whom was underage at the time — but the judge allowed it.
Police say Harris, 33, left his toddler, Cooper, strapped into a car seat under a baking sun for seven hours while he went to work June 18. Records show that the mercury topped 92 that day, and police say the temperature was 88 degrees when the boy was pronounced dead in a parking lot not far from his father’s workplace.
At the hearing, Cobb County Chief Magistrate Frank Cox found probable cause for the case against Harris to move forward with respect to murder and child cruelty charges.
“For him to enter the car … when the child had been dead and rigor mortis had set in, and the testimony is the stench in the car was overwhelming at that point in time, that he — in spite of that — got in the car and drove it for some distance before he took any action to check on the welfare of his child, I find there is probable cause for the two charges contained in the warrant,” Cox told a packed courtroom.
The judge denied bail for Harris, who has pleaded not guilty.
In addition to the charges he faces in connection with his son’s death, Harris may also be charged with felony sexual exploitation of a minor and misdemeanor illegal contact with a minor, Stoddard said.