Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status

Posted on | June 14, 2014 | 70 Comments

Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-old Florida boy.

Denise Harvey is from Indian River County, the same community that is also home to notorious sex offender Kaitlyn Hunt. Some people may think exiling criminal perverts to Canada would be adequate punishment, but Florida officials want her extradited:

Vero Beach fugitive Denise Harvey is claiming refugee status in Canada, saying the 30-year sentence she received for having sex with a 16-year-old amounts to “cruel and unusual punishment.”
An hour-long private “detention review” was held Monday in Saskatoon, the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, for Harvey, 45. She was released from Royal Canadian Mounted Police custody late Monday afternoon on a $5,000 bond, Harvey’s lawyer Chris Veeman said.
“I think she’s relieved to be out of jail,” said Veeman, a Saskatoon immigration law specialist.
Harvey plans to remain with husband, Charles, at their home in Pike Lake, about 18 miles south of Saskatoon, where they have lived since fleeing Florida nearly a year ago, Veeman said.
Harvey was convicted in 2008 on multiple counts of felony unlawful sex activity with certain minors. The charges stem from sexual encounters with her son’s then-16-year-old baseball teammate and friend. . . .
Details of the case aside, Veeman said a 30-year sentence is grounds for a refugee claim. It’s not a “classic” claim under the United Nations convention that usually pertains to political prisoners from Third World dictatorships. He acknowledged a refugee claim from an American might seem unusual, but it is valid nonetheless.
“Thirty years is too high. It’s way out of whack. I think there is merit to her (refugee) claim,” Veeman said.
The refugee claim could take months — or longer — to resolve. Harvey has 28 days to file her reasons for the claim and a multi-step process will follow.
The refugee claim is one of several intriguing legal possibilities the case raises. Harvey was arrested last week on the request of U.S. Marshals and Florida justice officials, who want her extradited to serve her time. But Canada does not extradite people unless the incident is a crime in both countries, according to the Department of Justice website — a principle known as “double criminality.”
Having sexual relations with a 16-year-old is not against the law in Canada, unless there is a power dynamic such as teacher-student.

Tucker Carlson could not be reached for comment.

Category: Canada, Crime, Florida, Sex

Comments

70 Responses to “Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status”

strongamerica2
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:39 pm

RT @smitty_one_each: TOM Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status http://t.co/OBNrdTL1bl #TCOT
rsmccain
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:41 pm

Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status http://t.co/98TLoAUvYU http://t.co/WIBy9Z3wmG
rsmccain
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:45 pm

“Some people may think exiling criminal perverts to #Canada would be adequate punishment …” http://t.co/98TLoAUvYU
secretkiska
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:47 pm

RT @rsmccain: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status http://t.co/98TLoAUvYU http://t.co/WIBy9Z3wmG
BobBelvedere
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:53 pm

RT @rsmccain: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status http://t.co/98TLoAUvYU http://t.co/WIBy9Z3wmG
commonpatriot
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:57 pm

via @rsmccain: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status http://t.co/esr9JVfROU #tcot
CHideout
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:57 pm

Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.co/bLYpBM5uXS
MrEvilMatt
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:57 pm

Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.co/qM77NMmrzY
WeRResistance
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:57 pm

Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.co/fGB8dt8FN9
Citzcom
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:57 pm

Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.co/bwbMJdxw0a
Lockestep1776
June 14th, 2014 @ 1:57 pm

Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.co/0Y89hfffy9
Art Deco
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:00 pm

A thirty years sentence for statutory rape is rather draconian. Florida needs to revise its sentencing guidelines.
The Emerging Menace of Female Sexual Predators | Batshit Crazy News
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:07 pm

[…] TOM: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Felon Flees to Canada and seeks asylum… […]
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:09 pm

30 years does sound high but I don’t know all the facts. I wait to hear what they are.
rsmccain
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:20 pm

RT @commonpatriot: via @rsmccain: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status http://t.co/esr9JVfROU #tcot
BrokenDrumsticks
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:29 pm

We have a little blog up here called Small Dead Animals, I just emailed Kate a tip about this story. She lives and blogs out of that province, thanks for the story Stacey!
AviWoolf
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:43 pm

[Imagine if This Was A Man] Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status http://t.co/BfTOd84mKr #YesAllWomen
leelu
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:45 pm

Well, at least she’s not preying on kids in the U.S.?
rsmccain
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:46 pm

RT @MrEvilMatt: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.…
Noonien_Soong
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:47 pm

RT @MrEvilMatt: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.…
DocWashburn
June 14th, 2014 @ 2:48 pm

RT @MrEvilMatt: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.…
afzamarro
June 14th, 2014 @ 3:15 pm

RT @rsmccain: “Some people may think exiling criminal perverts to #Canada would be adequate punishment …” http://t.co/98TLoAUvYU
No1Important00
June 14th, 2014 @ 3:19 pm

RT @MrEvilMatt: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.…
No1Important00
June 14th, 2014 @ 3:20 pm

RT @rsmccain: “Some people may think exiling criminal perverts to #Canada would be adequate punishment …” http://t.co/98TLoAUvYU
No1Important00
June 14th, 2014 @ 3:20 pm

RT @rsmccain: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status http://t.co/98TLoAUvYU http://t.co/WIBy9Z3wmG
Todd__Kincannon
June 14th, 2014 @ 3:28 pm

RT @rsmccain: “Some people may think exiling criminal perverts to #Canada would be adequate punishment …” http://t.co/98TLoAUvYU
kjcopp
June 14th, 2014 @ 4:09 pm

RT @MrEvilMatt: Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status: Denise Harvey, 45, molested a 16-year-… http://t.…
kjcopp
June 14th, 2014 @ 4:11 pm

Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status : The Other McCain http://t.co/htLJ8KNv1y
Jupiter C.
June 14th, 2014 @ 4:32 pm

She’ll be extradited. There’s nothing out of the ordinary that would cause the Canadians to violate established extradition treaties. She’s desperate & putting off the inevitable, which will eventually go against her.
Adjoran
June 14th, 2014 @ 4:39 pm

Exactly. It could be multiple victims (we know at least two), multiple offenses, use of power intimidation or drugs, etc.

It also sometimes happens when you refuse every reasonable plea offer and insist on rolling the dice at trial.
Adjoran
June 14th, 2014 @ 4:40 pm

She’s a gem: http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/
Kirby McCain
June 14th, 2014 @ 4:47 pm

She probably had Hunt’s lawyer, and big surprise, didn’t take the goddam deal!
@HiddenCash in Chicago! | Regular Right Guy
June 14th, 2014 @ 4:51 pm

[…] Fugitive Florida Sex Offender Flees to Canada, Claims ‘Refugee’ Status […]
ndmike12
June 14th, 2014 @ 6:16 pm

Should exercising one’s constitutional right to trial be the difference between a few years and 30 years? Should a prosecutor have that much unfettered discretion?
ndmike12
June 14th, 2014 @ 6:18 pm

I agree, except I’d say that unless there are extremely momentous facts that haven’t been disclosed, a 30 year sentence is unreasonable.
ndmike12
June 14th, 2014 @ 6:20 pm

If the State is willing to accept a plea deal that results in a few years of prison time, what business does the State have seeking a 30 year sentence when the only difference is that the defendant chose to exercise a fundamental constitutional right?
RS
June 14th, 2014 @ 7:15 pm

Plea negotiations acknowledge that evidence can go both ways. The defendant chose to roll the dice thinking that the jury would give her a better deal. She was wrong, and the sentence was within the range of punishment.
RS
June 14th, 2014 @ 7:16 pm

There is no constitutional right to a plea bargain. There is only a right to a trial and a judgment/sentence of acquittal or sentence within the range of punishment.
RS
June 14th, 2014 @ 7:17 pm

The jury heard the facts. It thought otherwise.
Kirby McCain
June 14th, 2014 @ 7:25 pm

Prosecutors do not make law they enforce law. If this pink trash of a woman was offered a deal and refused it the consequences are on her. In my estimation, liberals would want a law that differentiates between male and female offenders. That would be unconstitutional and once again Tucker Carlson was unavailable for comment.
ndmike12
June 14th, 2014 @ 7:28 pm

Respectfully, your answer assumes that there were allegations that, if true, would justify a 30 year sentence, and that the state was willing to drop those charges in exchange for a plea. That does sometimes happen.

But that’s very different from threatening eleventy billion years in prison if you go to trial, versus 2 years if you plead guilty. Do not blindly trust the prosecution. Angela Corey and Michael Nifong are not as uncommon as we’d all like to believe.
ndmike12
June 14th, 2014 @ 7:29 pm

The jury did not decide the sentence, nor were they told what the sentence would be if they reached a guilty verdict.
RS
June 14th, 2014 @ 7:55 pm

You don’t understand the concept of range of punishment. Additionally, if there were multiple counts, each count gets a separate sentence which may be run consecutively or concurrently. This defendant believed the jury would give her a break, a belief not unusual with female sex offenders. The jury did not. Bottom line: If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
June 14th, 2014 @ 9:56 pm

That “little blog” is made of a whole lot of awesome!
BrokenDrumsticks
June 14th, 2014 @ 10:02 pm

Yes it is!! Kate and her co-bloggers do a great job there, Blazing Cat Fur is another GREAT Canadian blogger. No post from her yet on this, perhaps you might have a better way to contact her? I know once she gets wind of this she’ll be all over it!! I’m just a nobody on the internet and am not sure how to link etc.
cmdr358
June 14th, 2014 @ 10:12 pm

I’m from the land of Denise and Kaitlyn and followed this story as it happened.
Denise Harvey was offered a plea deal, turned it down and then was hammered with a 30-year sentence. While out on appeal she fled to Canada and was later followed by her family. She’s ran off in 2009-10 and not last year as the linked article above states. I suspect that the editors down on the Treasure Coast just ran with whatever they picked up coming out of Saskatoon without even checking it out for accuracy since that area of Florida makes Saskatoon look like Paris or Rome.
(No surprise there. The link is to WPTV Channel 5 out of West Palm Beach and they are a Scripps company. Scripps has so-called reporters up and down the coast and they are stuck there for a reason – they suck.)
The only reason Denise was even found out was that the 16-year old bragged about it to his friends and so everyone at school knew about it and it got back to the boy’s mother. No surprise there either. How could a 16 -year old not brag about something like that?

I hope she’s allowed to stay in Canda myself. There are killers and rapists who get less that 30 years all the time and I’m of the opinion that the judge hammered her extra hard just for refusing the plea deal of 10 years.
There was a teacher at a prep a school in Vero Beach also accused of having sex with a 16-year old and he was offered a plea of 270 days and wisely accepted.

Hope she stays in Canada!
cmdr358
June 14th, 2014 @ 10:23 pm

She should have fled to Quebec, probably be safer for her in that country. :-
Art Deco
June 14th, 2014 @ 10:38 pm

How could a 16 -year old not brag about something like that?

Banging a 40 year old woman is a status marker among adolescents now? I suspect would have been considered seriously creepy when I was in high school, unless Mrs. Robinson looked like Jacqueline Bissett.

That aside, he might exercise discretion to protect someone he cared about, even if she did not deserve it.

In New York, a maximum sentence for forcible rape would be 12.5 to 25 years. I may be mistaken, but I believe concurrent sentences are the mode when you have multi-count indictments, not consecutive sentences.
K-Bob
June 14th, 2014 @ 10:42 pm

West Melbourne (cf. Kaitlyn Hunt) is in Brevard County, not Indian River.

But it’s still Florida, and the crazy respects no boundaries.
Batshit Crazies Who Hate Their Dads | Batshit Crazy News
June 15th, 2014 @ 12:00 am

[…] TOM: Fugitive Florida Felon Sex Offender Flees To Canada […]