A bank robber who was killed after strapping a bomb to his body and kidnapping a group of people during a long-distance race in Bakersfield had a notorious history of sexual activity involving teenage girls after escaping his brief military stint.
FBI agents shot and killed Anthony Searles-Harris, 41, on Wednesday after holding 10 people hostage for 15 hours at a Chase bank downtown.
In 2014, he was convicted of three counts of aggravated sexual assault on children, including lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 and oral sex with a child under the age of 14 with more than a 10-year age difference between the offender and the victim.
Searles-Harris was originally charged with 15 counts, including several counts of intimidation.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and forced to register as a sex offender, but an appeal in 2017 led to the charge being dropped and his release the following year.
The gangster’s plea revealed shocking details in the case, including how the convicted rapist held “sex parties” in the summer of 2011 where he supplied drugs and alcohol to children.
He filmed young women naked in the bathtub and gave them alcohol only if they participated in sexual acts. Two male guests then entered the bathroom, court records show, and the girls stopped because they were “not comfortable enough.”
He was also seen threatening the girls if they told anyone “what I did.”
“[Searles-Harris] he warned them that ‘if [they] told anyone what he was doing or what he was doing [they] what they were doing…he was going to kill [them],’ court records showed. “He also revealed that ‘he has killed someone before, and buried him in his yard,’ and ‘[they] they can end up like them if [they] say whatever.’”
In another incident, he is said to have promised a 13-year-old girl money and drugs “if they ‘make a video’ of her taking a shower” and engaging in sexual activity.
Searles-Harris said in a nearly two-hour YouTube video posted last year that she had been framed and was innocent.
During the protest, one of the main topics of discussion that Searles-Harris had was obtaining documents related to his case. Police said he was frustrated by “certain aspects” of his crime.
Prior to his arrest, Searles-Harris had a brief stint in the United States Army from 2006 to 2007 before being dishonorably discharged for going AWOL, or Absent Without Leave. It is unclear what he did in the military.
Law enforcement officials also said at a press conference Wednesday that Searles-Harris is “not unknown to law enforcement and has a criminal history of using weapons to commit violent crimes.”
Another possible cause of this crime is notoriety, officials said. He specifically asked about the FBI’s involvement and appeared to want federal agents to work on the case.
Witnesses said Searles-Harris gave a shocking statement when he began the robbery.
“It’s a bad day to be in the bank,” he said, according to a witness who spoke to KGET.
