PROVO, Utah, May 10, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A Provo man has been arrested after an alleged rape in Lehi late last year.
A probable cause statement from Utah County said Nathan Andrew Harvey, 22, is facing a charge of object rape, a first-degree felony.
On Tuesday, officers with the Lehi City Police Department took a report of a delayed sexual assault that occurred around November 2019, the statement said. The female victim reported a man, whom she identified as Harvey, had “heavily groped her” while she was asleep.
“The victim reported she was asleep when the assault occurred and, even if she was awake and could have given consent, she would not have consented,” the statement said.
The victim provided the initial case officer with screenshots of an alleged text message conversation where she recently confronted Harvey about the assault. In one of the text messages, the victim stated: “Am I crazy to believe I was touched in my sleep, I want the truth cause that is what bothers me the most.”
Harvey responded: “I did one time I woke up and my hand was already there I was curious and selfish and didn’t think clearly.”
On Wednesday, detectives with the special victims’ unit of the Lehi City Police Department interviewed the victim. During that interview, the victim stated she had fallen asleep while the two were watching a movie in a camping trailer at her residence, and when she woke the morning after the sexual assault, she found bruising on her private parts, her inner thighs, her breasts and ribs. The victim explained she has anemia and bruises easily. The victim also stated her clothing was skewed.
Also on Wednesday, detectives attempted to contact Harvey by telephone to set up a time to conduct an interview with him concerning the allegations. After the detective identified him, the suspect allegedly stated: “I know why you’re calling, detective,” and said he felt he might need to talk to an attorney before speaking with law enforcement. However, after that statement, the suspect allegedly added: “I woke up and my hand was just down there,” without any questioning by the detective on the phone.
On Thursday, detectives responded to Harvey’s residence in Provo, to try and get a statement from him about the event, the statement said. Once detectives read Harvey his Miranda rights, the suspect invoked his right to not be questioned without a lawyer present.
He was then taken into custody and transported to the Utah County Jail to be booked based on the evidence and statements obtained during this investigation. Harvey is being held without bail.
