POCATELLO After being notified by police via an internet tip, a Pocatello man was charged with ten counts of sexually exploitative material.
The 55-year-old Rusty Wayne Harris is accused of ten counts of possessing sexually exploitative material. Harris faces a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 if convicted.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a cyber tip to Pocatello Police Department officers on April 1, 2025. Kik, the reporting electronic service provider, supplied the username fun0278, which was allegedly used to post 23 files containing child-depicting sexually predatory content.
Kik also allegedly supplied the email address [email protected], among other things. The account was formed on December 4, 2024, according to court filings.
According to reports, detectives were able to identify and track down Rusty Harris by searching for his name in Pocatello Police databases.
Detectives verified the 23 child pornography files that were submitted, according to court filings, and all of the files showed females younger than 14 in a variety of rape and sexual assault recordings.
According to court records, detectives allegedly found selfies of Harris on the Kik account in addition to the 23 files of sexually exploitative content. They also allegedly discovered communications with other users in which Harris was soliciting and paying for child sexual abuse material. According to court documents, requests were made in one conversation, especially for child pornography of females aged 8 to 12.
Detectives found screenshots of Cash App transactions and a pre-paid debit card used to purchase sexually exploitative content, according to court records.
Court records also revealed another exchange that was discovered on the Kik account, in which Harris asserts that he spent $250 to have sex with three minors and that the girls’ parents had assisted them in engaging in sexual activity. Harris stated that the family lived in Idaho, but he gave no precise information on who they were.
Harris was found and taken into custody after Pocatello Police Department officers carried out a search warrant on his home on August 19.
According to documents, Harris acknowledged to detectives that the Kik username fun0278 belonged to him and that he had seen, received, and paid for items about child sexual assault. He claimed that the aforementioned chats were merely fantasies and denied ever having any physical sex with children.
