Guilty in Sex Abuse Case, Deputy D.A. Disappears

A senior Los Angeles County prosecutor disappeared Tuesday morning just before an Ontario Superior Court jury announced that it had found him guilty of sexually abusing his two daughters.

Superior Court Judge Clifton Allen issued an arrest warrant moments after he was informed that Deputy Dist. Atty. Harvey W. Harper, 50, could not be located. Allen ordered that Harper’s $25,000 bail be forfeited and that he be held without bail if he is taken into custody. Harper faces more than 14 years in prison on the molestation charges.

Once the verdict was announced, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said that Harper, who had been suspended without pay since 1984, was being formally discharged.

After deliberating for three days, jurors found Harper guilty on five of six felonies with which he was charged--one count of attempted incest with his older daughter, now 21, and four counts of the more serious charge of molesting his younger daughter, now 15.

The jury could not reach a consensus on the sixth charge, a second count of attempted incest involving his younger daughter. Deputy Dist. Atty. Ken Melikian said the jury’s inability to reach a verdict stemmed from uncertainty over whether the offense took place within the statute of limitations.

“It was clearly a time issue,” Melikian said. “The jury obviously believed he was guilty of sexual abuse because they found him guilty on the other count. . . . I’m very pleased with the verdict.”

The incidents involving the elder daughter occurred in October and November of 1981 while Harper was living in Rancho Cucamonga. The child molestation charges involving the younger girl took place between September, 1982, and May, 1984.

Both of the daughters and Harper’s estranged second wife testified at the trial. The girls’ mother died in February, 1982, and Harper remarried in 1983.

The older girl testified that Harper had fondled her and attempted intercourse with her while her younger sister claimed Harper had molested her at least four times. Harper’s estranged wife testified to witnessing between 10 and 15 incidents of sexual abuse involving the younger girl.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Harper denied having sexual contact with either daughter. A 20-year veteran of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, Harper until his suspension headed the unit that prosecutes parents for failing to pay child support.

Harper’s attorney, Philip Kassel, defended his client as “a person who leads the good life . . . not the kind of person who is going to be running around molesting children.”

Girls’ Stories Questioned

Kassel claimed both girls had invented their stories--the older daughter because she was angry that Harper had separated from her mother and the younger one because she had been pressured by the stepmother.

Kassel, who was in court when the verdict was announced, told authorities he did not know the whereabouts of his client.

Harper had been in the courtroom early in the day when he was told by a bailiff to contact Kassel because the jury was about to return with a verdict, Allen’s court clerk said. He left the courtroom to telephone his attorney and was not seen again.

The jurors announced their verdict after a delay of several hours to see if Harper could be found. Sentencing has been scheduled for Feb. 25.