Bruce A. Harvey Charged with Crimes Relating to Sexual Exploitation of Minors
Charlottesville, VIRGINIA - A Madison County Sheriff’s Office detective, assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force [ICAC], was arrested this morning and charged via federal criminal complaint with four counts relating to the sexual exploitation of minors, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle, Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Virginia State Police Colonel Steve W. Flaherty and Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division John J. Lenkart, announced today.
Bruce A. Harvey, 40, of Reva, Va., has been charged with two counts of transporting minors across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of interstate travel with minors with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The alleged criminal activity involved two minor female victims who had contact with Harvey while he worked as a karate instructor. The alleged criminal conducted occurred between 1998 and 2007.
Harvey, a former instructor at the Virginia Tong Leong School of Karate in Madison, had his initial appearance this afternoon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Charlottesville and remains in custody pending further court action.
The investigation of the case is ongoing and being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Nancy S. Healey and Lauren S. Kupersmith, Trial Attorney for the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the United States Department of Justice will prosecute the case for the United States.
A criminal complaint is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If you have any information about these crimes or information about a potential victim, please contact the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI. Investigators and victim specialists are available to assist you.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
