Upper Peninsula man receives maximum sentence for sexual assault after being caught on nanny camera

Elizabeth Washington, Digital News Editor

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. – A Michigan man from the Upper Peninsula has received the maximum sentence for sexual assault after being caught on a nanny camera.

Justin Harvala has received the maximum sentence of 142 months in prison for second-degree criminal sexual assault after being caught assaulting a 7-year-old girl.

WLUC, an NBC affiliate in the U.P., reported that Harvala was 32 at the time of the assault. Reports show that the recorded assault took place on Feb. 11, 2021, in the young girl’s room. Officials say that the mother of the 7-year-old was in another room at the time of the assault.

Officials say that the 7-year-old’s mother discovered the video from the nanny cam, confronted Harvala, and demanded that the then 32-year-old leave her home. It is also reported that she called the police about the incident.

Harvala isn’t a stranger when it comes to breaking the law. Dickinson County Circuit Court Judge Chris Ninomiya told WLUC that Harvala has eight misdemeanors and four felony convictions on his record dating back to 2003. The Upper Peninsula man has also served two previous prison sentences prior to this conviction.

The now 34-year-old Kingsford man is a registered sex offender with another recorded offense, criminal sexual conduct to the fourth degree. Harvala was convicted of that crime in 2006.

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