Mormon bishop lures Arizona teen and now faces child porn charge, Missouri police say

A Mormon bishop is accused of luring a 16-year-old girl from Arizona to St. Louis, Missouri police say.

Larry Deutsch is charged with possession of child pornography in connection with the case, according to the St. Charles County Police Department.

Deutsch met the girl while she and her family attended his church, according to a probable cause affidavit. The family moved to Arizona two years ago, but Deutsch and the child stayed in contact, police say.

They exchanged nude photos, and the girl considered Deutsch to be her boyfriend, according to the affidavit. She told investigators that they had set a wedding date for next year, police said.

In November, the girl’s parents filed a protection order against Deutsch because they didn’t want their daughter in a relationship with him, according to the affidavit.

On Tuesday, Deutsch flew to Arizona and bought the girl a 2020 Nissan Rogue, and they drove through the night back to a St. Louis apartment, arriving early Wednesday morning, police said.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office contacted St. Charles County police that day about the missing child. Police met with Deutsch and the girl at a KFC restaurant, where the child was taken into the care of the children’s division.

Police obtained a search warrant of Deutsch’s laptop and found about 20 images of child pornography and a video, according to the affidavit. The nude photos show she wrote “reserved,” “Larry” and “Deutsch family” on her body, police said.

“Larry Deutsch acted as a trusted member of society by serving as a Bishop of the Mormon church,” a detective wrote in the affidavit. “Instead of using this position and responsibility for good, he ... (chose) to use this position as a trusted adult to target and groom a child.”

Deutsch was charged with child pornography and jailed on $100,000 bond.

In a statement, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Deutsch hasn’t had a leadership position in the church since 2014, according to KMOV.

“The allegations against this individual are serious and deeply troubling,” the church said in the statement. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no tolerance for abuse of any kind, including child pornography, and teaches its members and leaders that such behavior is offensive to God and to His Church.”

A family member of the girl said Deutsch was a bishop in Delaware and met the girl while a leader in a church in the St. Louis area, KMOV reported.

Police say there could be other victims.

“Police have a compelling reason to believe there may be other victims, based on evidence discovered during the investigation,” according to the news release. “Deutsch was known to have unsupervised contact with children as part of his leadership and service duties at various churches and youth organizations based in St. Charles County and Troy.”

This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Mormon bishop lures Arizona teen and now faces child porn charge, Missouri police say."