A 41-year-old man has been accused of raping multiple young girls. Now, police have charged him with the murder of a 13-year-old victim who became pregnant.
Jarvis Butts has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, criminal sexual conduct in the second degree, and possession of child sexually abusive material. The murder charge is in relation to the disappearance of 13-year-old Na’Ziyah Harris, whose grandmother reported her missing in January after she never came home from school. According to prosecutor Kym Worthy, though Na’Ziyah’s remains have not been found, the “overwhelming evidence” shows that she is dead.
In addition to Na’Ziyah’s case, Butts will be charged with additional sexual conduct charges for girls he abused when they were under the age of 13. “Mr. Butts targeted and befriended women to have sexual relationships with their young daughters,” Worthy said. “He was a classic and expert groomer and pedophile. It’s incredibly sad and incredibly unspeakable, and we want to bring justice to her and her family.”
“This is one of the most difficult cases that I have been part of,” Detroit Police Chief James White told Fox2.
Worthy said in a press conference that Butts met with Na’Ziyah after school on the day she disappeared, and then checked into a motel room. “Na’Ziyah was never seen or heard from again,” she said. “Not from her family, not from her schoolmates, not from her friends, not from her social media where she was extremely active with her friends, not from her teachers, no one.”
Before her disappearance and presumed death, Na’Ziyah found out she was pregnant. As her body has not yet bene found, it is not known how far along in the pregnancy she was. She told Butts, who immediately began researching abortion.
“He knew she was pregnant. We know that he was also searching for ways to abort the baby,” Worthy said. According to his phone records, Butts was researching abortion pills and drinking red anti-freeze as a way to force Na’Ziyah into an abortion.
Abortion is frequently used by abusers to conceal their crimes, and the abortion industry is often compliant. As Live Action’s Aiding Abusers investigation found, there has been a systemic, decades-long cover-up of child sexual abuse at Planned Parenthood. The multi-part video series covered sex trafficking, recorded cases, interviews with former workers, and more. Real-life predators are known to have been aided by Planned Parenthood, and they have encouraged traffickers and abusers to pose as the parents of minors and lie about the ages of their victims.
In the press conference, Worthy stood in front of the last picture of Na’Ziyah ever taken: a selfie taken while she was at school, smiling and appearing happy.
“That will always be haunting,” Worthy said. “Because it was taken just a short time before the evidence shows that she was never seen or heard from again. … Little did she know that she was really saying goodbye.”
Editor’s Note: If you are a victim of domestic violence, abuse, or assault, visit thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-SAFE.
