Nathan Larson, a controversial 40-year-old politician from Virginia, has been arrested for grooming and kidnapping a 12-year-old girl from California, who he attempted to lure to his home.
He spoke with the girl for months over the internet before convincing her to fly across the country to meet him.
Larson has run for political office numerous times in Virginia, and has caught national headlines due to his promotion of white supremacy and pedophilia. In fact, he has run for office on promises of legalizing child abuse.
In addition to the kidnapping and abduction charges, Larson is also accused of running a child exploitation website.
Officials with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office told NBC News that they are concerned that there could be other victims due to Larson's “sophisticated” methods of grooming.
“This particular case is extremely disturbing,” Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said.
Larson had been talking with the young girl since October. He was communicating with her through multiple social media platforms and developed an inappropriate relationship with her.
Larson then flew to Fresno from Virginia and went to the girl's home. He persuaded her to sneak out, and then they got on a plane back to Virginia.
On their trip, Larson had the girl wear a disguise, which included a wig. He also told her to pretend that she was mentally disabled so nobody would try to speak with her.
Shortly after the kidnapping, the girl was reported missing and the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) began investigating the disappearance. They quickly learned from a friend of the girl's that she had been speaking to a man online.
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Fresno Airport Police and Homeland Security Investigations were able to determine that she was taken to the airport with a man before boarding an airplane to Virginia.
There was "activity, including at the airport, that was inappropriate," Mims said, referring to security camera footage from the airport.
The flight stopped for a layover in Denver, where local authorities were waiting to intercept them.
After they exited the plane, Larson was arrested, and the girl was rescued and returned safely to her family.
Larson was initially charged in Denver with harboring a minor, but felony charges including child abduction and a slew of other related charges are expected once he’s extradited to California.
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He's due in court on Dec. 24, and he could face life in prison if convicted.
"Nathan Larson has a deeply disturbing background. 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," Mims said.
Larson’s home was searched on Thursday by the Fauquier County Sheriff’s detectives, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Northern Virginia District of Columbia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Electronic devices were seized that could be used as evidence against him.
"It's 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," Mims said.
Larson’s 69-year-old father Arthur Larson, allegedly assaulted an agent during the search on the home.
Nathan Larson was previously sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2009 after he pleaded guilty to emailing the Secret Service a threat in December 2008 saying he intended to kill the president “in the near future.”
The ICAC Task Force is asking anyone who has had inappropriate contact with Larson in Virginia to email novadcicac@vsp.virginia.gov.
Anyone with information on Larson can also contact Fresno County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Brandon Pursell at 559-600-8029
(brandon.pursell@fresnosheriff.org) or Sergeant Chad Stokes at 559-600-8144 (chad.stokes@fresnosheriff.org).