LOGAN — An 18-year-old Smithfield man has confessed to trying to bribe an 11-year-old girl to have sex with him. Matthew Yi-De Harvey was arrested in January after the victim’s family called law enforcement.
According to court records, Harvey appeared July 28 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to enticing a minor and criminal solicitation of a minor, both amended to second-degree felonies. A third count of human trafficking of a child was dismissed.
According to prosecutors, Cache County Sheriff’s deputies received a call from a male individual on Dec. 4, 2024, explaining how Harvey was chatting with his little sister on Snapchat. The complainant said the suspect had offered to pay the young girl $50 to have sex with him.
Harvey had initially told the victim that he was a freshman. He also reportedly asked her if she had any friends who would also be interested in being paid to have sex.
The chats had occurred between November and December. At one point, the victim had disclosed her age and asked if that was okay? Harvey reportedly replied that “if she was okay with it, he was okay with it,” court papers detailed.
Deputies were able to obtain a warrant and trace the Snapchat account. It was registered to an email address in Harvey’s name. An IP address was also tracked to his Smithfield residence.
Investigators found additional chats with other females, where Harvey would lie about his age depending on how old the recipient was. They also located numerous images of pornography.
On Jan. 9, Harvey was arrested and questioned by law enforcement. He initially lied to deputies about having a Snapchat account or messaging the young girl. Later, he stated it was a joke, when shown the account was registered to his email address, according to the arrest affidavit.
Harvey is currently out of jail on pre-trial supervision. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 10, and could face more than 15 years in prison.