By Kent Larsen

Former LDS Missionary Charged with Molesting 11 Girls While on Mission

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- A North Carolina grand jury has indicted a 27-year-old former LDS missionary for 20 counts of felony sex offenses allegedly committed while he was serving there on an LDS mission. Matthew Nash was indicted on Tuesday for the crimes, allegedly committed during a four-month period in 1999.

According to LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills, "Matthew Nash was released from his mission for improper conduct and sent home immediately after he confessed to his mission president that he had touched several girls improperly over their clothing. [Nash] asserted at that time that he could not remember their identities. Under the law of North Carolina, the mission president was obligated to maintain Nash's confidentiality."

On his return home, Nash was excommunicated. LDS spokesman Bills indicated that LDS officials were a factor in North Carolina authorities learning about the crimes, and Capt. Patricia Taylor, chief investigator in the case, says that Nash called the Macon County police four or five months ago to confess the crimes. The police then sent an investigator to Salt Lake City to interview Nash. Taylor says Nash has offered to return to North Carolina voluntarily to fact the charges. If he doesn't, "he will be extradited," says Taylor.

While the incident may give the LDS Church a black eye in the area, Taylor says, "you can't judge everybody because of one bad apple."

Source:

Ex-Missionary Indicted on Sex Counts
Salt Lake Tribune 19Jan01 D2
By Frank Curreri: Salt Lake Tribune