{"id":52932,"date":"2023-04-21T07:39:40","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T14:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52932"},"modified":"2023-04-21T07:39:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T14:39:40","slug":"former-tennessee-county-official-sentence-to-17-years-in-prison-for-sexually-assaulting-seven-women-he-supervised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52932","title":{"rendered":"Former Tennessee County Official Sentence to 17 Years in Prison for Sexually Assaulting Seven Women He Supervised"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"node-title\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7857 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo-289x300.png 289w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/FBI-Logo.png 636w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 289px) 100vw, 289px\" \/>A former county commissioner and director of the Solid Waste Department in Cumberland County, Tennessee, was sentenced today to 17 years for sexually assaulting seven women under his supervision at the Cumberland County Recycling Center, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-pr-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">Michael Harvel, 61, was previously convicted on nine counts of committing sexual assault. According to evidence introduced at trial \u2013 including testimony from 13 women who described Harvel\u2019s sexual abuse \u2013 Harvel abused his authority as a county official to sexually assault women who worked under his control at the recycling center, according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">Officials stated that many of Harvel\u2019s victims were sent to the recycling center to serve court-ordered community service, were required to keep a job as a term of their probation or were otherwise vulnerable because they struggled with substance abuse, were impoverished, or were sole caregivers for their dependents.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/boTkH7aNHEs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">The jury convicted Harvel of four counts of sexual assault that included kidnapping, and three counts that included aggravated sexual abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">According to witness testimony at trial, Harvel told one victim to stop by his office at the end of the day, purportedly to discuss a job opportunity, then locked the door to his office and orally raped the woman. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">He falsely told a second victim that he needed her help with a county work project, drove her to an isolated landfill in the woods, and raped her in a guard shack.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">The jury also heard evidence that Harvel covered up his pattern of behavior by threatening his victims and other employees so that they would not report his crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">\u201cThe defendant abused his official position and authority to deprive the victims of their constitutionally-protected right to bodily integrity,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division. \u201cWhile this sentence can\u2019t undo the extraordinary pain and suffering the defendant caused these women, it should send a clear message to public officials they are not above the law and will be held accountable when they sexually assault and abuse people subject to their authority.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">\u201cMichael Harvel is a predator who used his position of authority to victimize vulnerable women,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">The FBI Memphis Field Office investigated the case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke Schiferle for the Middle District of Tennessee and Special Litigation Counsel Michael J. Songer and Trial Attorney Laura-Kate Bernstein of the Civil Rights Division\u2019s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">In 2021, in a separate civil action, the Justice Department secured $1.1 million from Cumberland County to resolve a sexual harassment lawsuit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">The lawsuit alleged, among other things, that Cumberland County failed to take adequate precautions to prevent Harvel, as the director of the county\u2019s Solid Waste Department, from sexually harassing women he supervised. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: helvetica;\">According to the complaint, Harvel regularly subjected the women to unwanted sexual contact, including kissing and groping and to unwelcome sexual advances.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A former county commissioner and director of the Solid Waste Department in Cumberland County, Tennessee, was sentenced today to 17 years for sexually assaulting seven women under his supervision at the Cumberland&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-federal-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Former Tennessee County Official Sentence to 17 Years in Prison for Sexually Assaulting Seven Women He Supervised<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A former county commissioner and 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