VALPARAISO — A 57-year-old Porter County man nabbed with nearly 900 child-pornography videos, including of children estimated to be as young as 4 years old, has been sentenced to six years behind bars.
Harold Harvey of Burns Harbor pleaded guilty to a felony count of possessing child pornography and misdemeanor invasion of privacy, court records show.
Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer, who said he could find no arguments in favor of Harvey, sentenced him to six years on the child-pornography charge and six months for invasion of privacy with the sentences to run concurrently.
Harvey was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and comply with those restrictions.
He was given credit for 156 days served and granted the services of a public defender to pursue an appeal, court records show.
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Harvey, who was represented by defense attorney Mark Chargualaf, was arrested in May on the child-pornography charges.
"I like young young," Harvey reportedly wrote on Facebook Messenger as part of his alleged sharing and collection of the illegal pornography. "Do you like young young porn?"
Indiana State Police said they received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the trading of child porn through Facebook by a user later traced to Harvey.
Investigators served a search warrant for two Facebook accounts linked to Harvey and found chat logs, photos and 897 videos involving child pornography, according to a charging document.
Police said they served a residential search warrant March 17 at Harvey's home, and he was taken into custody outside his residence. He reportedly declined to talk to investigators.
The invasion-of-privacy charge stems from Harvey making contact twice with an individual he was ordered to avoid while his child-porn case proceeded.
The latter allegations resulted in Clymer revoking Harvey's bond in September.
Harold Harvey
Bob Kasarda
Porter/LaPorte County Courts and Social Justice Reporter
Bob is a 23-year veteran of The Times. He covers county government and courts in Porter County, federal courts, police news and regional issues. He also created the Vegan in the Region blog, is an Indiana University grad and lifelong region resident.
