Paedophile who looked for jobs where he'd have access to children jailed
Keats Harvey had almost nine thousand indecent images of children on his electronic devices
An American national who sexually assaulted four young children has been jailed for 12-and-a-half-years.
Keats Harvey, 24, was arrested at his home in West Wittering, Chichester in May 2020 and later charged with 14 child sexual abuse offences. His youngest victim was a toddler.
Harvey had almost 9,000 indecent images of children and 630 prohibited images on his electronic devices, which he had collected between 2015 and 2020.
A large number of chat logs and emails were also uncovered, in which he admitted to having molested young children.
He met his victims through other adults he knew, they have all since been safeguarded.
Harvey applied for jobs at places where he knew he'd have access to children, including hospitals and nurseries.
During the investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA), officers identified another American national they suspected had abuse an eleven-year-old boy.
That was shared with US authorities based in Seattle and the man, a teacher, was arrested and the child safeguarded.
Harvey was found guilty in July of six counts of possessing indecent images of children (categories A-C), two counts of possessing prohibited images, two counts of taking and one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, two counts of assaulting a child under 13 by touching, and meeting a girl under 16 following grooming.
Peter Stevens, T/Regional Head of Investigations at the NCA, said: “Keats Harvey was conducting very serious offending, not just online but by physically abusing young children.
“On top of this, he was actively trying to befriend adults who had children and had researched jobs on the internet at hospitals and nurseries, all with the aim of gaining access to children.
“In my view he is an offender whose behaviour was escalating in terms of the severity of the abuse he was trying to commit. The sentence handed down today is a reflection of that and I’m pleased he is behind bars where he no longer poses a risk to children.
“Prosecuting individuals like Harvey who are a sexual threat to children is a priority for the NCA. My team worked tirelessly on this case throughout the pandemic, in very difficult circumstances, reviewing huge quantities of particularly disturbing material to build the case against him and ensure he would face justice.
“We also received support from Sussex and Hampshire Police in identifying other linked offenders and safeguarding victims. This partnership working is vital to protect the most vulnerable members of our society and I am grateful for the support we received.”