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Harry Peless (County jail photo)
Former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent Harry Marvelle Peless, III, 51, of Newport, Mich., pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Detroit in a child pornography case in which he sent nude photos of himself to an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old girl.
According to an FBI affidavit, Peless, who was working for the CBP at the time, contacted through a web chat application someone who identified themselves as a 13-year-old girl. In reality, the girl was an undercover officer for the Chester Police Department in New Jersey.
The conversation continued between the undercover officer and Peless, who identified himself as Scott, almost daily from Sept. 19, 2024 to Nov. 22, 2024.
The conversation became very sexual and suggestive, according to the FBI affidavit, with Peless providing photos of his genitals and him masturbating. He also appeared on a livestream video masturbating.
A court document also states that on Nov. 12, 2024, he received at least one image of child pornography.
On Nov. 26, 2024, Paless told the undercover New Jersey officer that his wife had discovered the online application they were using to communicate and he had to delete it. He said she was upset.
Consequently, between Nov. 27, 2024 and Feb. 14, 2025, the conversations between the two parties was more sporadic.
At the time, Peless was a Marine Border Protection agent at the Gibraltar, Mich., Customs and Border Protection station.
Sentencing is set for June 1.
