Admitted pedophile caught with Fresno girl, 12, can represent self in court, judge says
A federal judge will allow accused kidnapper and pedophile Nathan Larson to defend himself against charges he kidnapped a 12-year-old girl from Fresno because he intended to sexually assault her.
In a hearing Friday, United States District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston granted Nathan Larson’s request to serve as his own defense attorney.
The 41-year-old Larson, an admitted pedophile, is charged with several felonies that could put him in prison for life, if he is found guilty.
The judge also allowed Larson of Virginia to designate defense attorney Peter Jones as his “standby counsel.”
Jones described his role Friday as being more of a legal consultant. “He will represent himself fully,” Jones said. “I am not his attorney of record.”
A status hearing is scheduled for April 1. It is unclear when Larson’s trial would begin.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity, coercion and enticement of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, and receipt and distribution of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
Larson was arrested on December, 14 2020 at the Denver International Airport. He was attempting to take the 12-year-old Fresno girl to his home in Virginia where his plan was to sexually assault her and impregnate her when she turned 13, according to court records.
He allegedly began grooming her online after he found her on a rape/kidnap fetish website he operated from his home in Virginia, according to court records.
Larson is an accountant whose criminal history includes, a prison sentence in 2008 for threatening to assassinate President George W. Bush.
In 2018, Larson ran for Congress in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District but later withdrew. In a Huffington Post article about his candidacy, he was reported to have “endorsed child rape, father-daughter marriage, killing women and raping virgins.”
Last year, federal prosecutors raised a doubt about Larson’s mental competency and asked a judge to have him be evaluated by a mental health professional with the Bureau of Prisons.
A forensic evaluation was done and in January it was determined that there was “no reasonable cause to believe Larson is currently incompetent to stand trial...”
