JONESBORO, Ark. – Trever Harvey was serving as the City of Jonesboro Finance Director last Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, he was in handcuffs, on his way to jail, and at the center of a police investigation into allegations he made sexual contact with a 12-year-old girl in the summer of 2018.
Harvey is innocent until proven guilty. Still, the arrest stunned city officials enough to prompt his termination. Harvey was fired by Mayor Harold Perrin on Friday due to the serious nature of the “charges.”
“I understand that he is innocent until proven guilty,” Perrin said in a press release. “But because these are very serious felony charges, I see no alternative at this time.”
At the time, only second-degree sexual assault, a single felony charge, had been made public. It is a common typo to refer to pending criminal prosecution with “charges” as plural. But, as we learned on Monday, this was no typo.
On Thursday, March 7, the mother of the alleged-victim made the initial report with police. The probable cause affidavit reported Detective Shane Fox with the Jonesboro Police Department was assigned the case on Friday, March 8. The report claimed Harvey had allegedly made sexual contact with a female sometime during the summer of 2018. The girl was 12 at the time.
Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division interviewed the child. She said Trever “got her intoxicated and began showing her pornography on the television in the confines of his movie theater room at his residence. He then convinced her to take her clothes off so that they could both perform sexual acts while watching each other.” The juvenile said the only contact between the two was the physical groping of her breasts by the suspect.
Harvey was charged with:
Second Degree Sexual Assault for the inappropriate touching of a juvenile for his own sexual gratification; (Felony, 5-20 years)
Sexual Indecency with a Child for exposing his nude body to a juvenile for his own sexual gratification; (Felony, 6 years)
Sexually Grooming a Child for showing a child under the age of 13 sexual material with the purpose of enticing the child to perform any sexual activity; (Felony, 6 years)
Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor for distributing alcohol to a minor under the age of 18. (Misdemeanor, 1 year)
The fines could total as much as $37,500, in addition to the potential 33 years in prison if Harvey is convicted and sentenced consecutively.
Bond was set, permanently, at $50,000, for which Harvey had already paid and been released from jail on. His next court date is 8:30 AM on April 19.
NEA Report made a Freedom of Information Act request for Harvey’s personnel records with the City. Harvey was hired by the City on January 16, 2015, as an accounting tech in the finance department. On December 16 of that year, he was promoted to office manager for the finance department on the 4th floor. A performance review of his work for the next year gave him positive reviews in every category.
“Trever is a great team player and assists many different co-workers throughout the year,” CFO Suzanne Allen wrote on Dec. 21, 2016.
Harvey demonstrated good-problem solving skills, exceeded requirements of the job, and required less than normal direction and supervision, the review said. It indicated he was respectful to everyone in his job. Harvey became the Finance Director for Jonesboro on January 1, 2019. His pay increased to $59,357. He held the position for two months and seven days. The final item in his personnel record was the press release on March 8 relieving him of his duties.
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