(UPDATE, SEPTEMBER 5, 2024) Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki on Thursday provided clarification about the plea agreement.
He said that the six suspected photos of child pornography on Harning's phone "could not be confirmed," and that the other photos on the phone were not suspected as child pornography.
Racki also noted that although a plea agreement has been reached, Harning has not yet officially changed his plea of not guilty.
Our initial report stated that Harning would be required to register as a sexual offender; that was incorrect due to a misunderstanding on our part, and we apologize.
Although Harning acknowledged in the plea agreement that registration as a sexual offender could be a possibility in such cases, prosecutors did not recommend that Harning be ordered to register as a sexual offender.
(SEPTEMBER 3, 2024) William James Harning, a former teacher at Great Falls High School who was charged last year after investigators reportedly found child pornography on his phone, has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.
Court documents state that in December 2021, the principal at Great Falls High School contacted the Great Falls Police Department to report that Harning had sent an "inappropriate picture of Harning's penis" to a 17-year old student; Harning's face reportedly could be seen in the photo.
Later that day, GFPD detectives contacted Harning in his classroom during his prep period and obtained a search warrant for his phone.
Court documents state that "due to a heavy backlog of devices," Harning's phone was not searched until May 2023, and the results were provided to a GFPD detective.
According to court documents, the detective noted "numerous" sexually-explicit images of children between the ages of 5 and 17 years old, along with self-produced sexually-explicit images of Harning.
Great Falls Public Schools superintendent Tom Moore said immediate action was taken upon learning of the incident, placing Harning on administrative leave. Moore said Harning resigned and did not return to the district.
Moore said the district turned all of its information over to the Montana Office of Public instruction for investigation and Harning’s teaching license was revoked.
Harning was formally charged in Cascade County with six felony counts of sexual abuse of children on August 31, 2023; click here to read the original charging documents.
On August 29, 2024, Harning entered into a plea agreement in which the six felony counts of sexual abuse of children were amended to two misdemeanor counts of obscenity, the second of which was dismissed.
Montana Code Annotated 45-8-201 states, in part:
A person commits the offense of obscenity when, with knowledge of the obscene nature of the material, the person purposely or knowingly:
(a) sells, delivers, or provides or offers or agrees to sell, deliver, or provide any obscene writing, picture, record, or other representation or embodiment of the obscene to anyone under 18 years of age;
(b) presents or directs an obscene play, dance, or other performance, or participates in that portion of the performance that makes it obscene, to anyone under 18 years of age;
(c) publishes, exhibits, or otherwise makes available anything obscene to anyone under 18 years of age.
(d) performs an obscene act or otherwise presents an obscene exhibition of the person's body to anyone under 18 years of age;
(e) creates, buys, procures, or possesses obscene matter or material with the purpose to disseminate it to anyone under 18 years of age;
According to MCA, a person convicted of obscenity shall be fined at least $500 but not more than $1,000 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed six months, or both.
According to the plea agreement, Harning has agreed to a six-month sentence in the Cascade County Detention Center, with all time suspended; and payment of a $500 fine.
The plea deal has not yet been presented to a judge.
NOTE: Our initial report stated that Harning would be required to register as a sexual offender; that was a misunderstanding on our part, and we apologize. Although Harning acknowledged in the plea agreement that registration as a sexual offender was a possibility in such cases, prosecutors did not recommend that Harning be ordered to register as a sexual offender.
