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‘Extremely disturbing’: Virginia man accused of abducting 12-year-old California girl

DENVER — A Virginia man who ran for political office two years ago and has advocated white supremacy, pedophilia and rape, is accused of kidnapping a 12-year-old California girl, authorities said Saturday.

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Nathan Daniel Larson, 40, of Catlett, Virginia, was arrested Monday at Denver International Airport on a misdemeanor charge of harboring a minor, KDVR reported. Larson, who ran for a congressional seat in Virginia, faces felony charges in California for kidnapping, child abduction, soliciting child pornography from a minor and meeting a child for the intention of sex, according to The Fauqier Times.

Larson is currently in the Denver County Jail, the newspaper reported. He is scheduled to have a court hearing in Denver on Thursday, when an extradition request will be made to transport him to the Fresno County Jail.

According to Fresno Police spokesperson Tony Botti, Larson allegedly met his victim through social media in mid-October and coerced her to run away with him, KMGH reported. Deputies said Larson flew to Fresno from Virginia on Dec. 13 and then traveled to the girl’s home, the television station reported.

During a news conference Saturday, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said Larson persuaded the girl to take a ride-share from her home around 2 a.m. so they could go to the Fresno Yosemite International Airport together.

“This particular case is extremely disturbing,” Mims said. “It is obvious that Larson had the ability to be in contact with children across the nation, and the willingness and the means to travel to abduct them. We believe that there are other victims out there.”

“Larson made her wear a long hair wig to alter her appearance. He also told her to act as though she was disabled and unable to speak to ensure she would not converse with anyone at the airport while making their way onto the airplane,” the sheriff’s office said. “Detectives contacted law enforcement authorities (in Denver) and asked that they check the airport for Larson and the child. A Denver Police officer assigned to the local FBI Task Force located Larson and arrested him. Agents rescued the girl, who was uninjured, and made arrangements to have her reunited with her family in Fresno, which she was later on Monday night.”

Detectives with the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force took over the investigation, KSEE reported.

Law Enforcement Rescues 12 Year Old Fresno Girl and Arrests Her 40 Year Old Abductor Denver law enforcement officials...

Posted by Fresno County Sheriff's Office on Saturday, December 19, 2020

On Thursday, authorities in Fauquier County, Virginia, authorities searched Larson’s home. Larson’s father, 69-year-old Arthur Larson, allegedly assaulted a Homeland Security Investigations agent, KDVR reported. The elder Larson was arrested for assault and battery and later released from jail after posting bond.

Detectives seized electronic devices during the search of the Virginia home.

“During the investigation, detectives uncovered Nathan Larson has a deeply disturbing background,” the sheriff’s office said. “He is a white supremacist and a well-known advocate for pedophilia. This is a man who runs a website, which encourages the raping of children and sharing of naked photos and video of children being raped. During the past two months, Larson was able to convince the Fresno girl, through manipulation and grooming, to send him pornographic images of herself.”

In 2018, Nathan Larson unsuccessfully ran as a Libertarian for Virginia’s 10th district, which covers three counties in northern Virginia, The Washington Post reported.

Larson told the newspaper in 2018 that he believed in instituting a patriarchal system, with women under the authority of men. He also supported abolishing age restrictions for marriage and laws against marital rape, and called white supremacy a “system that works.” Larson also told the Post that Hitler was a “good thing for Germany,” and that incest should be legalized, at least in the context of marriage.

In 2009, Larson pleaded guilty in federal court to threatening to kill the president of the United States, the Post reported. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Boulder, Colorado, KDVR reported. In October 2009 he was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison, according to the Post, serving 14 months.

In a telephone call Saturday with the Times, Fresno County Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Pursell said that, “One of the amazing aspects of this case is that from the time we got the first call to the time the girl was reunited with her family was only 12 hours.’

“It was one of those things, we were so fortunate that things fell into place so quickly,” Pursell told the newspaper. “The timing on everything was so amazing. The folks in the airports in Fresno and in Denver were very helpful.”

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