Barren man charged with
transporting minor across state lines for illegal sexual activity

A Barren County/Sidney, Ohio, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Louisville, with transporting a minor across state lines to engage in illegal sexual activity and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

The grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Tony Glenn Harvey, 56, charging him with transporting a minor across state lines to engage in illegal sexual activity. It also charges him with possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to an affidavit filed in support of a Criminal Complaint, on numerous occasions, Harvey transported the child from Sidney, Ohio, to Smiths Grove, Kentucky. Specifically, he took her to a trailer in Smiths Grove, Kentucky (Barren County). While in the trailer, in late July 2011, Harvey forced the child to engage in sexual intercourse and oral sex with him. He also forced her to engage in sexual intercourse and oral sex with another adult male.

On or about August 22, 2011, Harvey again transported the child from Ohio to Barren County, Kentucky. On August 24, 2011, while in Barren County, Kentucky, Harvey was allegedly encouraging the child to have sex with him and when the child told him no, he brandished a .22 caliber pistol and told her she deserved to die. Harvey also threatened to hurt himself and other family members.

If convicted Harvey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 17 years in prison. He faces maximum potential penalties of life imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, and Supervised Release of at least five years and it could be any term of years including life.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jo E. Lawless. The Barren County Sheriff’s Office, in close association with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, conducted the investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit: www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

(The indictment of a person by a grand jury is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.)