FBI Says Former Alameda County Firefighter Likely Faked His Own Death Following Child Porn Charge

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Francisco has issued an update on a man who remains wanted on charges of possession of child pornography, who failed to appear in court in 2023 after charges were filed because, his brother says, he drowned while fishing in Suisun Bay.

Former Alameda County firefighter Charles Jonathen Harris, who would now be 46 years old, surrendered to federal authorities on March 7, 2023 and was later released on bond after being indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges. As Bay Area News Group originally reported, via the indictment, Harris was found with child sexual abuse material on his iPhone, including images of prepubescent children.

Harris was the subject of a tip by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which found that Harris had allegedly uploaded some images to the social media platform Kik, including while he was at work at Alameda County fire stations.

A week after he surrendered to authorities, a magistrate judge released Harris from home detention with the stipulation that he submit to location monitoring. A few weeks after that, in the early morning of April 4, 2023, Harris's brother swam up to a remote dock in swampland near where Suisun Bay meets Honker Bay and Grizzly Bay. He claimed he had been in the water for eight hours after his 15-foot fishing boat had capsized, and that his brother, who was with him, had succumbed to exhaustion and drowned, and he hadn't seen him for seven hours.

Harris's body was never found, which is not uncommon when someone drowns in open water, but prosecutors have remained skeptical after the fishing boat was recovered with a plug missing.

As Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Volkar told a judge two weeks later, "there are a lot of questions," and "there are certain aspects of his story that don’t quite match up," and she insisted that he be charged with failure to appear in court, and that an arrest warrant be issued in case Harris turns up alive. Per Bay Area News Group, Volkar further said that parts of the brother's story were inconsistent, and while "That could be because he himself underwent a traumatic event," it could also be that he was covering for his brother so that he could go on to start a new life elsewhere.

Harris was facing the possibility of up to 20 years in prison, and the likelihood of losing his job.

In its update this week, the FBI said they continued to investigate the possibility that the death was staged, and they are asking for the public's help if they see someone resembling Harris. At the time of his disappearance, he weighed 220 pounds and was 5 feet 10 inches tall and had short red hair and a mustache. The FBI notes he has "light" burn scars on his hands.

Anyone with information concerning the case is asked to contact their local FBI office, or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, and one can also submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.