NEWS

Zanesville man gets eight years for Jan. 2014 rape

Eric Lagatta
Reporter

ZANESVILLE – A 37-year-old man has been sentenced to eight years in prison and is classified as a Tier III sexual offender after he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape.

Elmer D. Harvey Jr. must report himself as a sex offender every 90 days for the rest of his life. Once he is released from prison, he will be on post-release control for a mandatory five years.

Harvey, of 3590 N. River Road, was originally indicted on four counts of rape and one count of kidnapping. Prosecutors dropped the kidnapping charge and two of the rape charges in exchange for a guilty plea in May.

Judge Kelly Cottrill had ordered a pre-sentence investigation.

The charges stem from a Jan. 4, 2014, incident in which a Zanesville woman called the Zanesville Police Department to say Harvey was at her home and she needed help.

He was arrested in March and has been an inmate at the Muskingum County Jail on a $1 million bond.

Harvey has at least five domestic violence convictions in Muskingum County in the past decade, court records show. He also was charged with telephone harassment and menacing for a separate incident Dec. 21.

elagatta@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

740-450-6753

Twitter: @EricLagatta