FRESNO, California (AP) – A self-proclaimed pedophile advocate who ran for political office in Virginia was arrested by authorities who said he was caught flying across the country earlier this week with a girl from 12 years he had persuaded to flee his home in California.
Nathan Larson, 40, made the girl wear a long-haired wig to make her look older and told her to be dumb during her trip, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims announced Saturday..
The investigation began Monday morning when the girl’s family reported her disappearance from her bedroom in Fresno, California.
Mims said detectives learned that Larson, a resident of Catlett, Virginia, met the girl earlier through social media, flew to California and convinced her to leave her home around 2 p.m. Monday. They took a carpool at Fresno airport, where they boarded a plane bound for Washington, DC, he added.
Larson was arrested and the girl was rescued by a Denver police officer who arrested the couple during their stopover in Colorado, Mims said. The girl was not injured and later reunited with her family.
Mims said that while the girl was not physically injured, detectives have evidence of improper touching at the airport.
He said the steps Larson had taken to prepare the girl were of a “sophisticated nature” and asked anyone who might have inadequate contact with Larson to contact police. He also urged parents to always monitor their children’s activity on the Internet and with whom they communicate online.
Federal agents searched Larson’s house and found that for the past two months since he met her in October, Larson convinced the girl to send him pornographic images of herself, according to Mims. During the search, Arthur Larson, Larson’s 69-year-old father, assaulted a federal agent and was arrested, he said.
Accused of assault and battery, the father was released after bail.
Mims said detectives also discovered the son’s “deeply disturbing background.”
“He’s a white supremacist and a well-known advocate of pedophilia,” he said of the young Larson. “This is a man who runs a website, who encourages the rape of children and the sharing of nude photos and videos of raped children.”
Nathan Larson ran and lost a 2017 campaign to become a member of the Virginia House of Representatives, representing the 31st District of the House that encompassed Prince William and Fauquier counties in northern Virginia. She ran as an independent and her platform included advocating for parents to be able to marry their daughters, legalize child pornography, and suppress women’s rights.
In 2009, while living in Boulder, Colorado, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison after pleading guilty to sending an email to the Secret Service that he intended to kill the president “in the near future.” It is unclear whether Larson was referring to then-President George W. Bush or then-President-elect Barack Obama.
He ended up turning 14 months old.
Larson was detained in Denver County Jail on a charge of misdemeanor offenses of housing a minor. However, Fresno County authorities will request an extradition request in Fresno where he will face offenses of kidnapping, child abduction, request for child pornography to a minor and meeting with a child with intent to having sex.
It was not immediately known if he has a lawyer.