Bride's father sexually assaults groom's relatives (Newark, New Jersey)

Of all the ways you can be a dastardly dad, this has got to be one of the ickiest. Father of the bride LARRY "BRAD" HARVEY has been accused of sexually assaulting two of the groom's women relatives at his daughter's wedding reception. What could I possibly add to that?

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20090717/NEWS01/907170309

Prosecutor: Bride's father 'crushed' day's happiness by assaulting groom's relatives
BY RUSS ZIMMER • Advocate Reporter • July 17, 2009

NEWARK -- Prosecutors say the father of the bride sexually violated two members of his new extended family at a June 2008 wedding reception.

Larry "Brad" Harvey, 45, is accused of sexually assaulting two women, both relatives of the groom, at a celebration in Johnstown. His trial began Thursday in Common Pleas Judge Thomas Marcelain's courtroom.

"This was supposed to be a happy day, a joyous day," Licking County Assistant Prosecutor Brian Waltz said. "A day when family and friends can get together and celebrate."

But Harvey's alleged actions "destroyed that safety and crushed that happiness," Waltz, who was assisting fellow prosecutor Tracy Van Winkle, said in the trial's opening statements.

Harvey is charged with rape, a first-degree felony, in connection with alleged forcible digital penetration of a 22-year-old woman outside the golf club where the bride, groom and guests were partying. The state's case also includes a second incident in which Harvey allegedly grabbed the crotch of another woman at the reception.

The defense did not argue much of the circumstances but did take exception with the allegations that would make Harvey's deeds criminal.

On a recorded phone call between Harvey and the second woman days after the wedding, he repeatedly repudiates any sexual conduct -- only admitting to kissing and clothed groping -- between him and the 22-year-old and claims the alleged crotch grab actually was a slap on the second woman's backside.

Attorney Scott Wood pointed to the 22-year-old's statement to a Licking County Sheriff's Office detective in which she classified the initial kissing as "consensual."

On the stand, the younger woman attempted to clarify what she meant by saying she accompanied Harvey outside of her own volition to be polite and didn't have time to physically resist because the first kiss happened so quickly. She denied ever kissing him back.

The younger woman admitted to misleading others as to where she was when the incident occurred and said she was confused and didn't want to cause a scene at a loved one's wedding.
She accused him of grabbing her and forcing his hand down the back of her skirt, then physically coercing her into touching his genitals.

Alcohol was consumed by all parties, although the women testified they were not drunk.
Wood said Harvey always has denied the criminal elements of the charges while the younger woman's story changed. She did not fully disclose what happened until the next evening.

"I was trying to play it off like nothing happened, that nothing was wrong," she said when asked why she danced after the alleged incident occurred.

The younger woman's brother, who she credited with creating the interruption that allowed her to escape, allegedly observed Harvey with his pants unbuckled, something Harvey denied on the call.

Testimony, including presentation of the defense's case, is expected to continue this morning.