Former Army National Guard Recruiter Sentenced for ‘Sadistic’ Sexual Abuse of Minor, Which Occurred on Military Base

A former U.S. Air Force special agent and Army National Guard recruiter was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for sexually molesting a young child while stationed at a Washington military base.

Joshua Carl Harrod, 44, was charged with enticement of a minor in July 2021 and pleaded guilty in October 2023. He also pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a government agency after attempting to falsify phone records related to the case.

Harrod, of Spanaway, Washington, abused the child, who was left in his care, between October 2017 and April 2018 while he was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, located roughly 9 miles from Tacoma, Washington.

Harrod was with the Air Force at the time of the abuse, but separated from the military branch in 2018 and served as an Army National Guard in Lakewood, Washington, before he was arrested.

At Monday’s sentencing hearing, federal District Judge Benjamin Settle described Harrod’s crimes as “sadistic” and “indescribably cruel.” In addition to the 10-year sentence, Harrod will be on supervised release for the rest of his life once he completes his prison term.

“The consequences of many crimes before me do not have the impact that this one does,” Settle said. “Victims of these crimes carry with them a life sentence.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington prosecuted the case, as Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a federal jurisdiction.