Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

4 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

5 hours ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

23 hours ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

1 day ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

1 day ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

1 day ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

1 day ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

1 day ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

1 day ago
Fresno Child Kidnapping Attempt Reflects Dangers of Pandemic Isolation, Experts Say
News
By News
Published 4 years ago on
February 5, 2021

Share

[aggregation-styles]

In normal times, the 40-year-old living in his parents’ small Virginia home evoked plenty of suspicion.

Nathan Larson ran for Congress in 2018 extolling child pornography and marital incest. Because of his “infatuation with children and sex,” as a federal judge termed it, Larson was once ordered to have limited contact with minors.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic, and it turned Larson into something even more dangerous, according to investigators.

“Guys like him are preying on kids stuck at home, on computers, and bored,” said Lt. Brandon Pursell of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office in California. “It’s absolutely terrifying.”

Pursell and federal authorities are now building a kidnapping and sexual exploitation case against Larson, whom they accuse of using social media to befriend a 12-year-old girl in California and spending two months manipulating her into agreeing to sneak off with him. On Dec. 13, according to court filings, Larson flew to Fresno and picked up the girl outside her home early the next morning, at 2:30 a.m.

The case represents an extreme example of what Pursell and investigators around the country say is an alarming byproduct of pandemic-triggered shutdowns: More children are being sexually exploited online.

During the first nine months of 2020, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says it received 30,236 reports of possible “online enticement,” which it defines as someone communicating with a child online with the intent of engaging in a sexual conversation, obtaining sexually explicit images or meeting in person. That’s a pace of about 40,000 reports for the full year, which is more than double the annual average of roughly 16,000 such reports over the previous four years.

Read More →

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Tops as 2025’s Largest Wildfire in California

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

DON'T MISS

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

UP NEXT

Rise of the Anti-“Woke” Democrat

UP NEXT

High-Level Saudi Visit Follows Multimillion-Dollar Foreign Influence Operation

UP NEXT

Iran and Russia Move to Fill Diplomatic Vacuum in Afghanistan

UP NEXT

Pelosi’s Husband Locked In $5.3 Million From Alphabet Options

UP NEXT

Experts Reportedly See Major Damage in Attack on Iran Centrifuge Plant

UP NEXT

Opinion: School Choice Marches Ahead

UP NEXT

Zakaria: Americans Care About History Because the Stakes Are High

UP NEXT

California Democrats Are Reliably Pro-Labor. But One Union Is Testing Their Patience.

UP NEXT

The Tightrope Walk Democrats Have Ahead on Two Separate Infrastructure Bills

UP NEXT

Bill Barr on Trump’s Election Fraud Claims: “It Was All Bullsh*t”

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

4 hours ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

4 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

4 hours ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

4 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

4 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

4 hours ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

4 hours ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

4 hours ago

Markets’ 90-Day Tariff Pause Rollercoaster Nears an Uncertain End

4 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

5 hours ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign a massive package of tax and spending cuts into law at a ceremony at the White House on Friday, ...

3 hours ago

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

The Madre Fire burning near New Cuyama has scorched 52,592 acres as of Friday, July 4, 2025, morning, making it California’s largest wildfire of the year, with only 10% containment and multiple evacuation zones in place. (CalFire)
3 hours ago

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Tops as 2025’s Largest Wildfire in California

3 hours ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

A pumpjack operates at the Vermilion Energy site in Trigueres, France, June 14, 2024. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. (Reuters File)
4 hours ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

Billy Wayne Sinisgalli, a 54-year-old transient known locally as Wayne, was found dead along a rural Fresno road Wednesday in what authorities are investigating as a suspicious death. (Fresno County SO)
4 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Israel Builds a Fence Around the West Bank
4 hours ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

A view of the site of Thursday's Israeli strike that damaged and destroyed residential buildings, at Shati (Beach) refugee camp, in Gaza City, July 4, 2025. (Reuters/Mahmoud Issa)
4 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend