A local man has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a child.
Darian Howard, 25, of Holland, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on Aug. 27, according to U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey.
“My office takes very seriously its obligation to protect vulnerable victims, and children this young are among the most vulnerable,” VerHey wrote in a release. “Child exploitation is one of the most troubling crimes we prosecute, and we work diligently to secure justice and appropriate sentences for predators.”
According to the release, a woman called 911 in November 2024 after learning Howard had taken sexually explicit photos of her three-year-old daughter. A police investigation revealed Howard actually took sexually explicit images of two three-year-olds, including a video of himself sexually assaulting one of them.
Howard was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child. He pled guilty to one count in May.
The case was investigated by the Holland Department of Public Safety, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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Howard’s case was part of a nationwide initiative called Project Safe Childhood, designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. It involves local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies working together to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals exploiting children.
To learn more, visit projectsafechildhood.gov.
— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland man sentenced to 25 years for sexually exploiting child