Gone in a Blink
There are an estimated 8 billion people in the world. In the US, approximately 2,300 people go missing every day. While some of those cases may be of their own accord, others are because of something far more sinister. Gone in a Blink is a true crime podcast that dives head first into the most mysterious and terrifying missing person cases in existence. Hosts Heather and Danielle take a deep look into some of the most horrific missing person cases that will leave you on the edge of your seat and absolutely terrified at just how fast a person can be Gone in a Blink.
Gone in a Blink
Predator in Plain Sight: The Disappearance of Na'Ziyah Harris
Could the heartbreaking disappearance of 13-year-old Na'Ziyah Harris have been prevented? This episode brings you into the distressing reality of a system that failed her, focusing on how a 41-year-old man named Jarvis Butts preyed on her innocence. Before the police even stepped in, it was the Detroit Public Schools Community District leading the charge, revealing shocking gaps in the procedures for handling missing persons cases. We dissect these events to shine a light on the urgent need for systemic change and community action in safeguarding our children.
As we navigate the harrowing details of Na'Ziyah's case, Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy works to unravel the predatory behaviors of Jarvis Butts. With chilling insight, we explore the signs of grooming and the deceptive nature of these predators. We'll break down how seemingly innocent behaviors can mask sinister intentions, urging families to recognize and act on red flags such as secrecy and inappropriate relationships. In today's digital age, where online interactions can become breeding grounds for exploitation, knowledge and vigilance are our strongest defenses.
Throughout this episode, we remind our listeners of the power of community involvement. From the crucial role of public awareness campaigns to actionable steps individuals can take, we emphasize the collective responsibility to protect our children and bring attention to missing persons cases. We invite you, our engaged audience, to stay informed, share insights, and help us spotlight future issues by reaching out with your suggestions and reviews. Together, let's amplify the voices of those who cannot speak for themselves and strive to prevent tragedies like Na'Ziyah's from reoccurring.
Sources:
https://disappearedblog.com/the-disappearance-of-naziyah-harris/
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2024/09/26/groomer-pedophile-charged-in-death-of-13-year-old-detroit-girl-last-seen-in-january/
https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/prosecutors-provide-update-naziyah-harris-case/
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2024/09/27/detroit-man-remanded-to-jail-for-death-of-naziyah-harris-13/75395890007/
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/missing-naziyah-harris-loved-ones-protest-outside-court-house-for-answers
https://www.abuseclaimsuk.co.uk/knowledge-hub/spotting-the-warning-signs-of-child-grooming/
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Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
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Thanks for joining us on the airwaves. And remember......Be Safe, Be Smart, and Try Not to Blink.
When you're 13 years old, it's easy to place your trust in people who seem kind or those who seem to understand whatever it is you may be going through. The child may be lavished with fancy gifts or the promise to be their escape from an unhappy home life. Sometimes it's innocent, but sometimes it's deadly. It's called grooming, and the number one goal of a groomer is to gain access to what you love most your child. They start by gaining your child's trust. Then they work to gain yours.
Speaker 2:When 13-year-old Naziah Harris began talking to 41-year-old Jarvis Butts, she thought it was just playful flirting until the text messages started getting very inappropriate. Jarvis soon gained Naziah's trust and what she thought was innocent fun in the beginning would take her down a much darker path that would end young Naziah's life far too soon. This is the case of Naziah Harris and this is Gone in a Blink. Hey, true crime fans, I'm your host, heather, and I'm danielle. Welcome to episode 27 of gone in a blink. Halloween is almost here and there is a lot going on with fall festivals and halloween parties. And, danielle, have you been to any halloween parties this year? You?
Speaker 1:mean the one I had at my house. Other than that, no.
Speaker 2:I myself have been to one so far and it was a lot of fun. I dressed up as a chick from the 80s and my husband dressed up as one of the guys from Run DMC, with gold chains and the big floppy hat bucket hat, I guess they call it and so it was a lot of fun. And my kids were Freddy Krueger, and I really have no idea what my son was. To be quite honest with you, some type of creepy monster guy in a onesie, if that makes any sense.
Speaker 1:Well, what we've kind of been doing is starting to watch spooky movies at home. The other night my older daughter and I went to our city's symphony and they were showing the original Psycho and they did the music. So the symphony did the music while the movie is playing. I had never seen the original Psycho, so it was quite the treat. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:I would have liked to have seen that. So today's case is one that every parent should listen to, especially those of younger school-aged kids. In the age of social media, every day, child predators are learning new ways to gain access to children. Sometimes, however, the predator is someone you already know. That was true in the case we're talking about today, the case of 13-year-old Naziah Harris. So if you're ready, let's jump right in. Naziah Harris was a 13-year-old student who attended JE Clark Preparatory Academy in Detroit, michigan. She grew up in Detroit and lived with her grandmother, annette Harris.
Speaker 2:On the afternoon of January 9th 2024, at around 2.50 pm, naziah was seen getting off her school bus near the intersection of Cornwall and Three Mile Drive. Her grandmother had been expecting her home soon after. However, naziah never made it home. Extreme worry began to set in as the hours ticked by without any word from Naziah. The following day, when Naziah still hadn't come home, the family reported her missing to the Detroit Public School Community District and they began initial investigation. They brought in US Marshals to begin the search, and I thought that this was a little strange, and maybe it's really not that strange and I just had never heard of it. But why would Naziah's disappearance be reported to the school district and not the police department? The Detroit Police Department did not take over the investigation until February 13th of 2024. So is this normal practice for a school district to investigate a missing persons case?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that doesn't sound like it. That sounds very odd to me. How many days was that in between when school district was notified versus the police got involved?
Speaker 2:We're talking January 9th when she went missing and it was reported the following day, so January 10th to February 13th, so just a little over one month, and I don't know if the police department was not notified. But it was the Detroit Public Schools Community District that led the investigation and I can see if it's something that may have happened on school grounds or something internally within the school itself. But for the police department not to have taken the main part in the investigation until more than a month after her disappearance is just crazy to me.
Speaker 1:If my child was missing didn't come home. That's the first people that I'm calling is the police department, not the school district.
Speaker 2:Well, exactly. So I don't know how things are exactly ran in Detroit. I don't quite know what that setup is with the community school district versus the police department, but if any of our listeners do have insight on that, I would love to hear more about that. So what I'm understanding from reports that I have found is that it was up to the school district to turn the investigation over to the police department and they took more than one month, like I mentioned, to do that. But there were also reports that on January 14th 2024, authorities searched the entire area where Harris was last seen with the help of police dogs and volunteers. So police were involved in the search, but the actual investigation was not theirs at that time. So it's kind of confusing really. So during the search in mid-January, authorities involved in the case were no closer to finding Naziah than they were when they first started searching. And once the police took over the investigation in mid-February, that's really when things started to amp up.
Speaker 2:On February 14th 2024, police searched a neighborhood near Garland and Shoemaker and by February 20th police made the announcement that they were interviewing suspects in Naziah's disappearance. Three months later, on May 7th 2024, it was reported that authorities had named a suspect and that he was currently incarcerated at the Wayne County Jail. Then, four months after that, on September 26th 2024, after eight months of investigating witnesses and sifting through evidence, police finally had enough to arrest 41-year-old Jarvis Butts and his last name seems to be quite fitting he was charged with first-degree murder, child sexual abuse activity and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. In Naziah's case, his arraignment was set for the following day, on September 27th. As it turns out, butts was no stranger to Naziah. He was, in fact, the father of one of Naziah's cousins and, according to prosecutors, the abuse that Naziah endured from Butts began as early as 2022. You know?
Speaker 1:with a lot of the crimes that we cover on this podcast. A lot of times it takes so long for them to have a conviction and to go through that process, but it seems pretty quickly that they knew that Butts was involved in some way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that they really. They had a lot of red flags. I know that the family knew, obviously knew him. He was the father of one of the cousins or a few of the cousins, so he was in the family and they were very weary of him and I'll report on that later, but there was some red flags. So, as I mentioned, in 2022 is when the abuse began and it was then that Butts began sending Naziah explicit text messages. It was at that time also that he encouraged her to send him sexual photos of herself as well. So this all began two years prior to her disappearance. So at that time, naziah was just 11 years old.
Speaker 2:So in September of 2023, it was discovered that Naziah sent Butts a text message telling him that she had not had her period. By November, butts was made quite aware that Naziah was pregnant and at the time of her disappearance, it was reported that she was looking to get an abortion. Text messages show that Butts had been searching for information online about abortions, abortion pills and drinking red antifreeze. Authorities sifted through countless hours of witness statements, surveillance footage, text messages, medical records and police reports. As reported by CBS News, police went through 111 gigabytes of video, 506 gigabytes of phone message exchanges and 16 gigabytes of documents.
Speaker 2:Text messages show that Harris sent a message to Butts from her tablet indicating that they were planning to meet up. On the afternoon of January 9th After school she met up with Butts and one of his co-workers at Butts Auto Repair Shop, and after that they drove to a town called Ipsy. Before returning to Detroit, where Butts checked into a hotel room at 9.30 pm, naziah was not with him, and this is the last time anyone has seen Naziah. The following day, butts was tracked to the Rouge River in Detroit. There they recovered the clothes that Naziah was wearing on the day she disappeared.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you have anything on it. I'd be interested to know kind of the family dynamic, if Naziah's father was involved in her life, or how home life was. Do you have?
Speaker 2:anything on that. There wasn't a whole lot about that, but I do know that her mother couldn't care for her when she was little. So Naziah was living with her grandmother. Her grandmother had officially adopted her and there was no mention of Naziah's biological father. So I don't like to theorize, but it didn't sound like he was in the picture. From everything that I had gathered, she had her grandmother and she had her aunts and cousins and things of that nature. I'm not even sure if Naziah had a sibling. There wasn't any reports that I found on that either.
Speaker 1:So why I ask that is because in my line of work I deal with this more than I'd like, and so what happens a lot of times is these young girls or pre adolescent time, that they're kind of looking for that attention, not in their mind at first, not necessarily that attention, you know, of any kind of sexual or anything like that, depending on what they've already been exposed to, but more like that father figure attention. This butts guy is making the first move, so she's looking for that attention really, you know, from the father figure standpoint. But then butts gonna call the shots shots. So he's looked at as the male. So if he is presenting her or trying to to groom her thinking with the suggestion of sexual photos or acting out in that way, it's almost like because she wants that attention so much she doesn't want that attention to to go away, so she, she goes along with it, even though she may feel like that that isn't exactly right, but she doesn't know for sure. So that's kind of what I saw here.
Speaker 1:Now his defense would probably be oh, it was consensual. Have you ever heard that in stinking media or whatever, that the grown man tries to convince, or that's his defensive? Oh, that, that she wanted it an 11 year old girl, so this was totally driven by butts. I'm wondering, just as we're getting further into this, if that's maybe why the family knew that he had a tendency for this. It doesn't just start one day. There could have been others in the family knew that he had a tendency for this. It doesn't just start one day. There could have been others in the family that something similar has happened like this and the family was trying to protect him. That could be why they went to the school district and they were investigating first and not the police. So I mean, it's just as we're unraveling this. It's definitely like a grooming situation.
Speaker 2:This is a classic grooming situation, and we will talk a little bit later in this episode about what to look for when you suspect that someone's grooming or not, even when you suspect it, because it can be so subtle, but I don't know how subtle it was in this case. So prosecutor Kim Worthy stated that there was an overwhelming amount of evidence to suggest that Naziah Harris is no longer alive, even though a body has never been found. Butts was arraigned in September 2024 in the 36th District Court on one count of murder, six counts of sexual assault and one count of child sexual abuse material relating to the case of Naziah Harris. Butts is also being charged for the sexual abuse of two other underage girls and, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy, the two other girls were under the age of 13 at the time the offenses took place and are separate from Harris's case. It was reported that one of the girls was assaulted by Butts from April 2012 to April 2014. That victim is now 20 years old. The other victim was assaulted by Butts from July 2015 to July 2017. His charge in that case is one count of second degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under the age of 13. And that victim is just now 13 years old. So that means that back in 2015, that little girl was only four years old. So he has a past, he has a history of doing this, and prosecutor Kim Worthy was quoted as saying quote Mr Butts targeted and befriended women to have sexual relationships with their young daughters.
Speaker 2:He would have relationships with their mothers, but his true desire was to have sex with their young daughters. That's what the evidence will show. Unquote. Worthy referred to Butts as quote a classic expert groomer and pedophile. Unquote. According to an article published by Fox 2 Detroit, naziah's cousin Kawana told the news outlet that she and other family members were very weary of Jarvis Butts and had mentioned it to Child Protective Services as well as the police. So they knew of Butts and it sounds like they suspected, or maybe flat out knew, that he was interacting with Naziah, and why that I'm not quite sure. The logistics of you know everything that was going on, so I don't want to, you know put them out there and say why didn't, why didn't you stop this? Because it's easy for me to sit here and say that when I'm not in the situation. So there's a lot that goes into it and he he may have even gained the trust of most of the family some way. I don't know. It's a. It's a really tough pill to swallow.
Speaker 1:Well.
Speaker 1:I think, in general, I mean any kind of ethnic group you come from. You know family's everything and you don't want to believe that your family one is going to hurt people in general but to hurt somebody within the family. So a lot of times, like kind of our brains will try to excuse it away so that we can comprehend and not think the worst that. Oh, you know, yeah, it's kind of weird that they're texting back and forth, but I'm sure it's nothing type of thing. Now, unfortunately, if somebody was paying attention and looking over the text then maybe they they would have seen that exactly. We don't want to speculate because we're not in that position, but I mean that's kind of the things that I've seen versus they want to protect their family, they feel like that within the family they can take care of it instead of getting the police involved.
Speaker 2:So this brings me to the topic of child grooming and the warning signs that every parent should watch out for. In an age where underage activity is surging on social media sites such as TikTok and Facebook, instagram, twitter, snapchat and many, many more, more and more children are being groomed, and the internet is the easiest way to do it. Hiding behind a computer screen allows the perpetrator to lie about their age, their looks, their financial status, pretty much anything. According to an article in Psychology Today, sexual grooming is defined as the deceptive process by which a would-be abuser, prior to the commission of sexual abuse, selects a victim, gains access to and isolates the minor, develops trust with the minor and often other adults in the minor's life, and desensitizes the minor to sexual content and physical contact. One of the reasons why detecting child grooming can be difficult is because many of the behaviors that are used by child groomers can mimic that of a normal, caring adult-child interaction.
Speaker 2:Signs are not always obvious and oftentimes the groomer is known to the family. The purpose of child grooming is so that the individual doing the grooming can prepare the child for a meeting. The groomer will use manipulation, sexual abuse and exploitation as tactics to get what they want from the child. The groomer will often exploit the child's vulnerabilities in order to gain trust and detach them from their family. Child's vulnerabilities in order to gain trust and detach them from their family. Some of the vulnerabilities that the groomer will look for include emotional neediness, isolation, neglect and unstable home life, as well as a lack of parental supervision.
Speaker 2:A groomer can be any age, race, gender or ethnicity, and it can be someone that you already know, or they could be a total stranger. Child groomers are experts at their own game, therefore making the act of grooming sometimes almost impossible to detect. Many times, the child or the parents may not even realize what is happening to them. So, according to an article on the Abuse Claims website, the following are a list of indicators to look out for. Number one having a boyfriend or girlfriend who is much older than them.
Speaker 1:I have a question on that. Now are we talking about a child, a minor at this point, having a boyfriend or girlfriend who's much older than them. So I guess what would be much older?
Speaker 2:Well, just an example If you have a 15-year-old daughter or son and they now have a boyfriend that's 22 years old, that's a big gap. I feel like most people will know right off on that one. Okay, if you have a 15 year old, that's with a 17 year old, no, that's not necessarily. That's not a big gap. But usually it's adults that are preying on children. So any adult that's preying on children like that, that's a first red flag. Second is being secretive about how they're spending their time, including when online. The next one is having new clothes and expensive items such as a mobile phone. Not wanting to talk about where their new stuff has come from, skipping school or sporting activities, substance abuse like underage, drinking or drug taking, spending more or less time on their phone, laptop or tablet. Being upset, withdrawn or anxious, no longer talking to you about their feelings, using inappropriate language or showing an understanding of sex that's not appropriate for their age, disappearing for long periods with no explanation as to where they have been. And groomers don't always target children. They aim at gaining the trust of the parents as well, in order to lower suspicion and gain easier access to children.
Speaker 2:Here are the following signs to look for that may indicate that someone is grooming the adult with the intention of accessing your child. Number one they offer to babysit your child. Number two they offer to take the child on excursions or trips that are away. Number three they buy the family gifts. Number four they play with your child and touch them in a non-sexual way as a means of getting you and your child used to physical contact. And that's scary and I guess maybe your radar would go off if someone was constantly very handsy I know mine would, because I'm not a handsy person, and definitely not with other people's children. So I feel like if someone was always had their arm around one of my children or hugging on them and I'm not talking about a grandparent, although a groomer can also be a grandparent. So it is tricky because, like I mentioned earlier, it can mimic someone that is a genuine caregiver. That doesn't mean any harm.
Speaker 1:And that's what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yes, can be so confusing, because a lot of what you're describing can be kind of typical in a family setting. I mean, think about in different cultures where, like, the whole family live in one house. They may be a little more affectionate, and that doesn't necessarily mean that there's a problem. However, what I would recommend is, if that is happening, especially all of a sudden, to really, as that child's parent, to really be monitoring that. I mean, you don't have to let them know you're monitoring, but just keep an eye out, Because you know it's such a hard thing, because you don't want to disclude people the aunts, uncles, whatever that are just trying to be nice. But because of the world that we live in, what you're describing is definitely red flags, and if that's something that hasn't been in your guys's family dynamic and then all of a sudden it just is, that would be a big red flag there too. I think either way is just to be on the side of caution and if something looks weird, then really start to investigate to make sure that your child is safe.
Speaker 2:When I think this is why so many times it goes. It goes undetected because you're not really thinking about that. Most people are thinking, hey, this uncle or this family friend is, it's just innocent. They're giving my child high fives all the time. They're just giving them hugs. It's not in a sexual way. But they don't realize that it's not going to start out in a sexual manner right off the bat. And that's part of grooming the parents as well, to gain the trust. And it's scary, it really is so. Number five they often compliment your family and your style of parenting. Number six they try to initiate a romantic relationship with you. Number seven they offer to mentor or individually coach your child. They offer to mentor or individually coach your child. So there's a lot of red flags to kind of watch for. But even those can be very subtle.
Speaker 1:And that's what makes it hard. I mean, think about a single mother, a single parent, grandparent, in this situation, because you need that support. So if you have a family member or a close friend, whatever sex it is is offering to help you with your child, you're probably going to take that and going to like, oh I mean this seems weird, but I need the help. So I mean you could see that as well, and that in itself can put your child into danger. But what is the alternative, as a single mother myself, is that I mean you need to work, you need to supply for your child, and so I definitely understand being in that state of that. This is very nice for them to offer that. But I think, where we have to again side of caution, that we wouldn't want to choose working over something happening to our child.
Speaker 2:So that's where you want to look out for those red flags and if something doesn't seem right, then quietly investigating or looking, not letting the person know that you're even kind of questioning, but just kind of silently double checking that everything is panning out Well exactly, and I really believe that the groomer, they're preying on a parent that they know is vulnerable themselves by, like you mentioned, needing to go to work, and so you're kind of overlooking things or turning a blind eye to things that maybe should be paid attention to, but because you have to work and you're struggling to do this and that you kind of just let those red flags blow over and they know that that's part of their game. There is also five stages of child grooming, and so I want to go over those real quick so everybody kind of has an understanding of just their mentality. I mean, it's sick, it's extremely sick, but it's this whole process because they have one goal, and one goal only, and that is to gain access to your child. So stage one is victim selection, and this consists of the minor is compliant and trusting of adults. The minor lacks confidence or has low self-esteem. This is all criteria for what they're looking for. The minor is lonely or isolated. The minor is troubled. The minor is needy. The child feels unwanted or unloved in the home. The child is not close to parents or parents are not resources for them. The child lives with a single mother and needs a father figure and in this case of Naziah, she was living with her grandmother, so the child has a lack of supervision, like I mentioned earlier, that's a big one for any groomer that's going to look for a victim. So stage two is gaining access and isolation. The individual would be maybe involved in youth serving organizations such as a school or Boy Scouts, girl Scouts, sports, anything like that. Manipulates the family to gain access to the child, engages in activities alone with the child and excludes adults, takes the child for overnight stays or outings, separates the child from peers and family.
Speaker 2:So the next stage, stage three, it's trust development. The groomer will appear charming, nice or likable to everyone around them. Has insider status or a good reputation, like they're a pillar of the community, which you see all the time especially just an example, maybe with priests or pastors or police officers a pillar in the community, someone that the title alone is telling people hey, you can trust them, and they know that and some of them will abuse that Is affectionate or loving with the child. Gives the child attention, exhibits favoritism, like special relationship with the child, gives the child compliments, spends time with the child communicating, often through text messaging or phone calls, emails, things like that. Engages in childlike activities such as games, sports, music, stuff like that. Gives minor rewards or privileges like toys and gifts, money trips, things of that nature, finally. Money trips things of that nature, finally. Provides the child with drugs and or alcohol.
Speaker 1:Well, so that's where, with my line of work, I've seen all of this and what happens, especially when you get adolescents or pre-adolescents they like the gifts, they like the toys, so they are hesitant to say anything, so they can have a mind of that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this doesn't seem right, but if I tell anybody and maybe this was even the groomer actually telling them this they get this sense.
Speaker 1:If they tell somebody, then the gifts, the toys are going to stop, the attention is going to stop, and so that's where it's so hard for a child. That is in that situation where they're wanting the attention maybe low socioeconomic, that they're not getting gifts or toys that their peers are getting. And then here's this person that is providing all of this and kind of in their mind if you put yourself in the child's mind a bit, it's like oh, I just have to do this and I still get the gifts and the toys. They're not thinking about how wrong this is, how messed up that this is, that a grown adult is asking me to send nude photos. They're thinking more of the monetary, that the attention that it's providing, and that's so sad, honestly, that they're not getting that from parents or you know other sources, and that's what a groomer knows, and so that's kind of what they prey on. I wonder also, though, if it could be sometimes like like that it's not planned out, but it just kind of happens. Have you thought about it?
Speaker 1:in that way, heather, you know how people say that, oh, it just happened, it's just happened. We, you know, we really connected and you really love each other as a defense. But you know, sometimes I wonder if the groomer that, yeah, that they are attracted to young children and may not go into it thinking that, oh, I'm going to groom so and so specifically, but more as an opportunity of who you know in the family that will present themselves as vulnerable and would be more open to that kind of relationship than other children Do you get what.
Speaker 2:I'm saying there, I definitely think that it's always planned out. That's my opinion. I don't think that a child groomer doesn't plan on grooming. I don't think that they only have an attraction to children, which is called pedophilia. I don't think that they just happen to fall in love with a child and they're completely innocent and I think it's a sickness. I think it's definitely an illness and I think they know it's wrong and they know that if people around them notice this, they're going to be in serious trouble. So that is why the grooming process even exists, in my opinion, is because they know they can't just grab a random child and say, hey, I'm attracted to you Because most children know it's wrong as well, and I think it's a whole process and the kid knows it's wrong and that's why they're bribed with gifts and things like that and that's why the people around them are also groomed, because everyone knows it's wrong, even them.
Speaker 2:So I think they go into this with a plan and they are, unfortunately, very good at it and I think anyone that, like I'd mentioned before, just as an example, people of the church or people with a title that is supposed to be trusting for everyone, but especially for kids, when they abuse that they know it's wrong. It's all about the grooming process and how they're not able to have access to these children and do the things the sick and twisted things that they want to do to these children without having a process in place that allows them access to these children and gains the trust of both the child and the family.
Speaker 1:So I want to make sure that you understand what I'm saying, because I don't want there to be any indication that I'm like trying to give them an excuse or anything like that. What I am saying is that that I have seen, because of the sickness, that the groomer uses that as their defense that, oh, it just happened, oh, we really connected. And while, yes, I think for the most part it is planned that okay, that I mean, especially as they get good at it, then they are seeking out these children and the less they get caught, you start to get cocky and you start to, oh well, really to seek out the children when I guess, if you look at it at a psychological point, yes, it's a sickness, so it kind of in their brains, at least at first. I really do think that they go through this, oh it just happened, or whatever, basically lying to themselves.
Speaker 1:The child, yeah, I think, just like in this case, there's no way that it started out sexual. He gained the trust. Oh, somebody she could talk to if you couldn't talk to parents. I mean, even in schools we teach okay, we want you to find a trusted adult that you can talk to if you can't talk to your parents, because going through adolescence, pre-adolescence, yeah, kids stop talking to their parents because they don't want to get in trouble, and it's a slippery slope, but you do want them to find a trusted adult.
Speaker 1:I think it still needs to be monitored, though, because it can very quickly turn into something like that, and then you get that defensive oh, it just happened, we didn't mean for it to. And, yes, that, in my personal opinion, is a bunch of bull. But in the same sense I mean maybe not specifically with this person, but you knew that you were seeking that and an adult not keeping those boundaries, that something like this, if it wasn't quote unquote already planned could very quickly turn into something like that because they're not keeping the boundaries. That's kind of where, even with family members of them coming forth and offering to take care of children or buying gifts, something like that aunts, uncles, whatever there's boundaries, and if a parent sees that this person is not respecting those boundaries, then that's definitely a red flag and things like that that you've mentioned that you need to look out for so it doesn't turn into something else.
Speaker 2:Well, I definitely know that nine times out of 10, these perpetrators will use that as a defense, saying that they fell in love with this child and they weren't planning it, unless their defense is that they didn't do it at all. But I definitely think that that is something that they try and fall back on. Their number one intention is to have a sexual relationship of some sort with the child, and a lot of times I think that's why they end up killing them is because, unfortunately, in Nazia's case, I think it could have very well been because she had ended up pregnant, and that's incredibly sad to me. I don't know if he would have killed her regardless of whether or not she became pregnant, but this man preyed on other women's children as well. So, as the prosecutor said, his aim was, yeah, he would have a relationship with the mother, but he really was just wanting to have the relationship with the daughter. That was his aim.
Speaker 2:So stage four is the desensitization to sexual content and physical contact. So that includes they ask questions about the child's sexual experience or past relationships. They will talk about sexual things they themselves have done. They will use inappropriate sexual language. They will teach minors sexual education, use of accidental touching or distraction. While touching. They will watch the child undress, exposes their own naked body to the child. They will show the minor pornography magazines, videos, images, things of that nature. They will be seemingly innocent, non-sexual contact, things like that. They'll tickle them, hug them sitting on the lap, just kind of working their way up which makes me sick just to even talk of that. Working their way up, which makes me sick just to even talk of that. Desensitizes minor to the touch and increasing sexual touching. So that was stage four.
Speaker 2:Now stage five is the last and final stage. It's post-abuse maintenance behaviors. They will tell the child not to tell anyone what happened. They will encourage secrets and secret keeping. They will tell the minor I love you or you're special, make them feel loved. They will give the child rewards or bribes not to tell and say things. By not telling they will avoid punishment things. By not telling they will avoid punishment. They will persuade the child the sexual abuse was acceptable or normal behavior. They will provide the child with misstated moral standards regarding touching. They will make the child feel responsible for the abuse like it was their fault. They will threaten the child with abandonment, rejection, family breaking up if they tell.
Speaker 1:And that's kind of what I was saying earlier is that the child doesn't want that attention to stop, and then, of course, being told by the adult that, oh well, it's like they changed their tune, that oh, this touching touching's okay, but then they're saying, oh, but if you tell then it's going to make you in trouble, and so I could see that that would just be really confusing to the child, and I mean, especially in a low socio-economical situation, they don't want the attention to stop, they don't want the presence to stop.
Speaker 1:So so I mean, if they're looking at kind of like pros and cons, well, oh, if I don't tell, then I continue to get this attention and I get everything else the kids in my class are getting, but if I do tell, then I'm going to get in trouble, it's going to make my parents mad at this person that's doing this and it's going to cause a lot of issues in my family. I wonder if that's kind of been the case with this situation with Mr Butts. In the first place is that I wonder how many victims said nothing because they were, for whatever reason, were, afraid they were going to get in trouble, didn't want the gifts to stop, something like that they didn't say anything and he didn't further pursue it. But, like in this case, she got pregnant and they were trying to dissolve the pregnancy, but then I mean, it sounds like that it went wrong as far as that. He just got rid of her, got rid of the problem.
Speaker 2:And that's unfortunately how I think a lot of them end is the groomer is either under suspicion or, in this case, nazia got pregnant, and then the groomer has to quote unquote get rid of the problem. That's why it's so important to see the warning signs, to know what to watch for. So many people don't know what to watch for, and it's a touchy subject. It is a very touchy and disturbing topic, but it's one that cannot be ignored and I think so many people just don't wanna talk about it. It's just too disturbing to talk about and while it is disturbing to talk about, it's very want to talk about it. It's just too disturbing to talk about and while it is disturbing to talk about, it's very important to talk about so that everyone knows the warning signs.
Speaker 1:Well, and this isn't like the typical of how a grooming situation ends. What typically happens is that it's almost like and again, this is just what I've seen in my experience of counseling People are living with this for years, that something has happened to them when they were a child, traumatic experience within the family and they tell nobody and they are living with what happened and as they get older they realize that this was something that shouldn't have happened.
Speaker 1:I've seen in cases where they do try to reach out to parents and again, as I was saying earlier, you know, our brains don't want to go there. The mom wouldn't want to think that her brother could be capable of doing this to her child. Just an example. So they will, they'll try to excuse it away and I mean I don't know how many times that I've seen that happen that the kids had tried to tell the parents and they didn't believe them. They thought that they were just trying to get attention or something like that Doesn't normally end in death from the groomer. It can lead to things like suicide or any kind of depression, anxiety, things of that nature. But I've seen so many people live with this for years, of this traumatic experience.
Speaker 2:I think more times, when it does lead in death, it is someone that was doing the grooming who was originally more detached from the child. A lot of times I hear about the mother's boyfriend or the uncle. I mean, yes, this guy was an uncle, but he was kind of I don't know if he was married to the aunt or just like baby's daddy type thing but he had access to her. He wasn't attached to her, that was clear. And so I think so many times it is like you hear about the mother's boyfriend grooming the child and the mother doesn't want to believe that her boyfriend would do something and even if, a lot of times, even if she does believe that she just turns, turns the other way because she may be fearful of the boyfriend or she may feel dependent on him financially or something of that nature, and so she's letting this abuse happen by pretending that it's not happening. There's so many situations that it's not just all black and white. I know that everybody has a different situation, but I did want to make those signs and what to look for known so that people can watch for that. Naziah Harris's cousin Kiwana had a nickname for her. She referred to her as Pretty Eyes because of how beautiful they were. Before Jarvis Butt's arraignment, wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy spoke to the public standing in front of the last known photo of Harris smiling and waving at the camera in her classroom Quote she is smiling and waving and saying hello. Little did she know that she was really saying goodbye. You look at that face and you cannot see the horrors that she's gone through in her short life the exploitation, the molestation, the sexual abuse and the pregnancy.
Speaker 2:As I mentioned earlier, naziah Harris is considered to be deceased. However, a body has not been found. Harris is five foot two inches tall and weighs approximately 130 pounds. Her hair was tied into two pump balls when she was last seen and she was wearing a light blue jean shirt, blue jeans, a pink and white top, black coat with a fur collar and blue and white Nike tennis shoes. Her clothing had been found near the river, as mentioned earlier.
Speaker 2:Also, if you have any information regarding the disappearance of Naziah Harris, any information regarding the disappearance of Naziah Harris, please contact the Detroit Police Department's Major Crimes Division at area code 313-596-2260 or Crime Stoppers at 800 SPEAK3-2587. Callers can remain anonymous and a cash reward of up to $2,500 is being offered for information leading to her whereabouts. Thank you for listening to another episode of Gone in a Blink. If you like our show, please consider giving us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, and we would certainly love for you to follow us on any of our social media sites and I will have those posted in our show notes. And if you have an idea for a show or if you have a loved one who is missing and would like us to cover their case, drop us an email at goneinablinkpod at gmailcom. And please remember, be safe, be smart and try not to blink.
