Man Accused of Having Sex With Young Girls

CASTAIC —  A man has been arrested and charged with molesting at least three girls between the ages of 5 and 7 over the past two years, authorities said Wednesday.

Daniel Larson, 50, has been charged with 32 felony counts of oral copulation and having sex with a child under 14. Larson, who is scheduled to be arraigned today in San Fernando Superior Court, is being held on $1.8-million bail.

Investigators said Larson told them that a female friend brought the girls from the San Fernando Valley to his home. In return, he allegedly paid the woman, who gave a percentage of the fee to the girls’ families. The woman is being sought, authorities said.

Authorities suspect the girls came from poor families, but there was no indication that the families knew their children were being molested.

“In the three years I’ve been working child abuse, this is the first case I’ve run across like this,” said Sgt. Mike Becker of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Family Crimes Bureau. “This is also the first case we’ve dealt with where an individual has told us he’s being provided young girls for his own sexual gratification.”

Sheriff’s investigators said they arrested Larson on Saturday afternoon at his house in the 29500 block of Cambridge Avenue in Castaic after receiving a tip.

Authorities served a search warrant there and found several dozen photos of girls between the ages of 5 and 7, some of whom were nude, Becker said. They also discovered about two dozen videotapes, one of which allegedly shows Larson molesting a young girl, Becker said.