OKC, OK — In yet another example of Oklahoma County’s reluctance to hold child sex traffickers accountable, a Oklahoma City man, with a violent criminal history, has been given probation by the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office after pleading guilty to human trafficking related criminal charges involving a minor.
JohnTV first reported on 32-year-old felon Quwan Shamar Harrison back in Oct. of 2013 after he was arrested for pimping out a 17-year-old girl at the Travel Lodge on NW Expressway.
According to court records, Harrison was selling the minor on Backpage.com for $250 when contacted by undercover officers with the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Vice Unit.
Just days after Harrison’s arrest he was formally charged with human trafficking and ordered held on a $100,000 bond – a bond he was somehow able to post three months later.
On June 4, Harrison stood before Oklahoma County Judge Ray Elliot as assistant district attorney Dan Gridley announced the DA’s office had reached a plea agreement with Harrison. In that agreement, Harrison pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of pandering (pimping) and was sentenced to probation and a $50 fine — No prison, no maximum fine and no justice for a ‘man’ who willingly and sexually trafficked a teenage girl.
To add insult to injury, under Oklahoma law, a conviction for the crime of pandering is supposed to result in “…imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a period of not less than two (2) years nor more than twenty (20) years and by fines as follows: a fine of not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) and not more than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00)…”
Yesterday JohnTV reported that Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater told the Oklahoman that his office has a policy of being lenient to younger adult sex traffickers. Problem is, Harrison was not a ‘younger adult’ when he committed the crime of human trafficking – In fact, Harrison was 32-years-old.
So, there must be some other reason for DA Prater’s hug-a-thug mentality in Harrison’s case. Maybe this was Harrison’s first offense? Hardly….
A police officer friendly to JohnTV says that law enforcement records identify Harrison as a known member of the Hoover Crips – a violent local street gang heavily involved in drug trafficking, pimping, robbery and murder.
According to court records, Harrison had only been out of prison for five months (after serving only six years of a 17-year-sentence) before being arrested for pimping out a teenager.
In 1998, at only the age of 18, Harrison, along with two co-defendnats, was charged in Oklahoma County with possession of a firearm for his part of a driveby shooting.
One year later, Harrison was charged with another driveby shooting, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, and assault with a dangerous weapon. Upon conviction Harrison was sentenced to seven years in prison, followed by probation.
Not one to learn his lesson, in 2006 Harrison was charged and convicted of drug possession. And, for the simple crime of possession of ecstasy and marijuana, Harrison was sentenced to 10-years in prison – Meaning the DA’s office feels drug possession is more deserving of prison than someone selling your daughter to as many people as they can.
In 2007, Harrison was charged with crimes of shooting with intent to kill (x3), possession of a firearm, and two counts of robbery with a firearm. Upon conviction Harrison was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by probation.
Quwan Harrison’s DOC record. Click for larger image.
Had Harrison not been on probation when he was arrested and charged with the sex trafficking of a teenager, he would have been returned to the streets to prey upon other youth by DA Prater’s office.
Fortunately, Harrison’s probation violations have secured him a place in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for now.
The list of Oklahoma pimps that owe their freedom to DA Prater’s office is ever growing – as seen in these JohnTV articles.
At what point will Oklahoman’s demand a response from Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater and his office’s legacy of being soft on sexual predators?
JohnTV will continue to cast an unblinking eye upon the district attorney’s office in regard to such matters.
* As with all articles appearing on JohnTV.com, we welcome input, clarification, corrections or opinion by any member of law enforcement (including, but not limited to, the Oklahoma City Police Department, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, FBI, OSBI and the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office).