Copyright CBS News
Jarvis Butts, the man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering 13-year-old Na'Ziyah Harris, was in court Wednesday for a different case involving sexual abuse of a child. The preliminary exam was closed to the public and the media as it involved one of Butts' relatives, who was 8 years old at the time of the alleged incident. Butts is accused of sexually assaulting one of his young relatives in 2021 and 2022 at an auto shop where he worked. A witness said it wasn't the first time she saw Butts take advantage of Harris and another person, claiming he also made advances toward her. In January, prosecutors argued that Butts allegedly started exchanging sexually abusive texts with Harris as early as 2022, which is just months after the alleged assaults being argued in Wednesday's hearing. Prosecutors say Butts's history of child sexual abuse goes back even further, as he faces charges for sexually assaulting a girl in Allen Park in 2013 when she was just 12 years old. She's now 24. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office says Butts's case will be bound over to the Third Circuit Court. He already faces charges for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and second-degree criminal sexual conduct of a child. The county says he's receiving an additional count of each of those charges after Wednesday's hearing. A former federal prosecutor said it's important to be able to control the court environment when a child is testifying, even if that means we can't be there. "The protection of the child is paramount to the court. The court oversees the process in the child's safety during the proceedings and makes sure the public doesn't have access. That's why in this particular case the proceedings are closed," said attorney Rick Convertino. Butts will be arraigned on Oct. 29. His jury trial in the Na'Ziyah Harris case is scheduled for Feb. 23, 2026.
