Jim Harvey first appeared in Port Charles on January 3, 2018 when he met Michael Corinthos III and Ned Quartermaine for breakfast to discuss a business venture in the Charles Street district. Jim was eager to start a revitalization project, but Michael was concerned about affordable housing for the current tenants in the area. Jim promised to work with ELQ, but he warned the men that he had meetings scheduled with other companies that were eager to invest.

Jim also had an encounter with a man named Franco Baldwin. In an ironic twist, Jim had once dated Betsy Frank when Franco had been a very young child. Something about Jim had made Franco uneasy, and Franco kept his guard up around Jim.

Around the same time, Franco had started a search for answers about his childhood when he had uncovered that his imaginary friend "Andy" had really been his adopted brother. Franco was desperate to uncover what had happened to Andy, but Betsy had continually lied to Franco to keep him from learning the truth. In time, Franco began to recall Jim from the past, along with other disturbing images. Further adding to Franco's unease was Jim's surprised reaction to learning that Andy had grown up to be known as Drew Cain, and Drew lived in Port Charles.

When Jim was asked about an incident with when Andy had fallen down the basement steps, Jim claimed that "Bobby" had pushed his brother because "Bobby" had been a violent child prone to sudden outbursts. Initially, Drew believed Jim's version of events because "Bobby" had grown up to be a notorious serial killer and famed artist named Franco. A slow-growing brain tumor, that doctors suspected had developed early in Franco's life, had driven Franco to kill. After the tumor was removed, Franco's homicidal impulses had ceased.

On March 2, 2018, an earthquake rocked Port Charles, and it nearly wiped out the Charles Street district. An investigation would later link the earthquake to illegal fracking -- and Jim Harvey's company. Meanwhile, Franco and Drew had decided to team up to get some answers about their early childhood. However, Betsy Frank had vanished.

On March 12, Drew and Franco decided to set a trap, and use Jim to find Betsy. They were certain that Jim had paid Betsy to disappear. Two days later, Franco had showed up at Jim's hotel to plant a bug then bait Jim by claiming that Franco had found Betsy. Jim turned the tables on Franco when two of Jim's goons showed up. Drew sprang into action, but he too was quickly captured.

Jim had both Drew and Franco taken to subbasement in an abandoned warehouse scheduled for demolition. Drew speculated that they had been tasered because their memory of the trip to the warehouse had been fuzzy. Drew was curious why Franco hadn't stuck to the plan by getting out of the room after planting the bug, but Franco grew agitated. Drew recognized the signs of PTSD, and he wondered what Jim had done to Franco.

Franco recalled that Jim had been instrumental in Andy's fall down the basement stairs, but the details remained locked in the past. However, Drew and Franco had more pressing concerns because the arrival of the construction crew and the lack of concern for Drew and Franco's safety meant that Jim intended for the two men to die. Drew and Franco worked together, and they managed to escape the warehouse through a vent pipe that had led to the harbor.

At the same time, private investigator Curtis Ashford and police commissioner Jordan Ashford had gone to Jim Harvey's house in Buffalo, New York, and they had found more than they had bargained for when they discovered a terrified Betsy Frank. Jim had kept his ex-lover imprisoned for weeks. Betsy was taken to the hospital, and an arrest warrant was issued for Jim. Unfortunately, Jim had managed to elude the police.

On April 4, Jim discovered that Betsy Frank was at General Hospital, so he went to the hospital, donned a disguise as a surgeon, then made his way to Betsy's hospital room, but Drew had been with her. Jim fled before he was spotted, but his luck ran out in the parking garage when he encountered Liz and Jake Webber. Luckily for Liz and her son, Franco happened along before Jim could take either hostage. Liz and Jake ran for help, but Franco and Jim were gone by the time Drew had made it to the parking garage.

After beating Jim in a fit of rage, Franco had dragged his abuser to Franco's art studio to confront Jim about the sexual abuse that Jim had inflicted on Franco as a child. Franco warned Jim that the building had been abandoned after the earthquake, so no one would hear Jim's cries for help. Jim refused to acknowledge Franco's accusations, but in a series of flashbacks, Franco recalled how Jim had visited Franco numerous times when Betsy had been gone, and how Jim had always given "Bobby" a gift as a consolation, while making "Bobby" feel as if he had deserved the sexual abuse.

Franco held Jim at gunpoint as he demanded that Jim write a full confession including all the names of his victims. Jim complied, but the moment that Franco had let his guard down, Jim lunged for the gun. The men struggled until Jim gained the upper hand. "You made me do it. We had a secret," Jim cried, but before he could pull the trigger, a shot rang out then Jim slumped to the floor. Drew stood in the doorway.

The shooting was ruled a justified homicide, and Drew was cleared of any wrongdoing in Jim's death. Later, Franco confirmed that there had been more victims, and that Jim had never stopped molesting young boys.