Adam Garvin Harris Pleas Guilty
As jury selection was set to begin, Adam Garvin Harris, 37, of Guntersville entered guilty pleas to Production of Child Pornography and Sodomy 1st Degree of a Child Less than 12. The case was prepared for and prosecuted by District Attorney Jennifer Bray and Assistant District Attorney Adam Culbert. Circuit Judge Christopher Abel presided.
Harris entered “blind” pleas, meaning there was no agreement with the State as to sentencing. He now faces a sentence of 20 years to life in prison on each charge. Because both offenses are Class A sex offenses involving a child under 12, Harris will not be eligible for parole and must serve any sentence day-for-day.
Evidence at trial would have established that in March of 2024, the Guntersville Police Department (“GPD”) received information from Predator Poachers in Texas regarding online communications involving Harris. Predator Poachers informed GPD that while conversing with Harris undercover on Instagram, Harris admitted to raping and sodomizing a 9-year-old family member living in the home with him. In the video where Predator Poachers confronted Harris, he admitted to sending the messages but stated they were untrue. Rather, Harris claimed he stated he raped and sodomized this child on Instagram to get a rise out of the strangers he was messaging.
Chief Investigator Mark Fortune with the GPD served several search warrants on social media companies, including Instagram. Those search warrants revealed the Defendant was not only messaging Predator Poachers but several other Instagram accounts admitting to the abuse he was perpetrating on the child victim and to his desire for young children.
A digital forensic examination of Harris’s cell phone was performed by Investigator Barry Maddux with our office. The digital forensic examination uncovered several images of child pornography, including images of the little girl the Defendant admitted to sexually abusing in Instagram messages. Additionally, the Defendant’s phone included several disturbing searches too graphic to put in this press release, but that clearly established his sexual deviation and incestuous pedophilia. The victim in this case, who was nine-years-old at the time she was rescued, disclosed that Harris took those pornographic photos of her. Further, she disclosed that the Defendant had been subjecting her to sexual abuse since she was around five years old until she was nine years old and rescued by the Predator Poachers and GPD. Inv. Maddux also uncovered approximately 2,000 text messages between Harris and the victim over only a five month period, where the twisted relationship he had made the victim feel was normal was evident.
“Our office has spent weeks preparing to present this case to a jury, and our thoughts have remained with this child throughout that process,” said District Attorney Jennifer Bray. “We are grateful the jury was spared from having to hear and see the devastating evidence in this case, and more importantly, that this child was spared from having to testify. We mean it when we say it was an answer to the prayers many of us have quietly prayed throughout this process.”
“However, the defendant’s decision to plead guilty does not lessen his culpability; rather, it underscores it. He prolonged this process for nearly two years and forced this victim to relive her abuse during trial preparation, when he could have accepted responsibility in 2024. We will be asking the Court to impose the maximum sentence of life without parole,” said Bray.
The District Attorney’s Office extends its appreciation to the Guntersville Police Department, specifically Chief Investigator Mark Fortune, the Child Advocacy Center of Marshall County, the Department of Human Resources, and Investigator Barry Maddux who worked diligently on this case. Blind pleas to multiple Class A child sex offenses do not occur without strong, well-developed cases, and that is a direct result of the thorough and dedicated work of these agencies.
The Defendant is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Abel on May 6, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.
