County man charged with raping child asks judge to clarify No Contact Order issued in case
Published 9:33 am Thursday, October 13, 2016
A Roan Mountain man facing multiple child sexual abuse charges has filed a motion in his case asking the court to clarify a “No Contact Order” it previously issued.
Investigators with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office arrested David Arthur Harmon, 45, of Roan Mountain in July and charged him with 13 counts of rape of a child and 13 counts of incest.
During his arraignment in General Sessions Court on August 1, Judge Keith Bowers Jr. ordered Harmon to have no contact with the victim if he posted the $400,000 bond set in the case.
“If for any reason you are able to make bond, you are to have no contact what so ever with the alleged victim,” Bowers told Harmon, who indicated he understood. “You are not to be within one mile of any county or city school.”
Then, on August 5, Bowers issued a second No Contact Order in the case. In the second order, Bowers directed Harmon to have “no contact with victim while incarcerated in Carter County Detention Center.”
On Monday, Harmon’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Gregory Norris, filed a motion with the court asking Bowers to clarify the court-issued No Contact Orders. In the motion, Harmon asks that the court “set and define” the parameters of the No Contact Order.
“In support of this Motion, the Defendant would show the following: 1. That the defendant is incarcerated and has a No Contact Order with minor children, including his own, in this matter. 2. That issues have arisen with the Defendant making contact with his wife while Defendant was incarcerated. 3. That defendant stands unsure as to what contact he may or may not have with his family while still incarcerated,” the motion states.
In the motion, Harmon is asking the court to allow him to request the clarification. The motion also asks the court to clearly define the parameters of the No Contact Order so Harmon may contact his family without violating this order, if contacting them would be allowed.
Harmon is also requesting the court direct the State to subpoena his wife, the mother of the alleged victim in the case, to appear in order to assist the Court in defining the No Contact Order.
In the court filing, Norris asks the court to hear the motion at Harmon’s next court appearance, which is set for Oct. 21.
The charges against Harmon stem from an investigation by the Carter County Sheriff’s Office into a complaint by a woman that Harmon had sexually assaulted their daughter. According to police, Harmon confessed to sexually assaulting the child on 13 separate occasions.