A former LDS missionary from Utah is expected to return to North Carolina, where he served his mission, next week to face charges of sexually abusing young girls.
A grand jury has indicted Matthew Nash, 27, on 19 counts of various sex offenses he committed on 11 young girls within a four-month period in 1999, said Capt. Pat Taylor, chief criminal investigator of the Macon County, N.C., Sheriff's Department.
All of Nash's victims were younger than age 12 and all of them belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Taylor said.
Investigators said Nash used his position as a missionary to meet the girls and take advantage of them. Officials will not be surprised if more victims now step forward, Taylor said.
A statement released by the LDS Church said Nash served in the North Carolina Charlotte Mission, which covers roughly the western half of the state.
The LDS community is very small in Macon County, Taylor said.
Nash was released from his mission and sent home immediately after confessing to his mission president that he touched several girls improperly over their clothing, church spokesman Dale Bills said.
While Nash was still in North Carolina, he was very frank and candid with his mission president about what he did, said Brad Rich, Nash's attorney.
"I think he had guilty feelings during his mission," Rich said.
Under North Carolina law, the mission president was obligated to maintain Nash's confidentiality, Bills said.
Police in North Carolina were notified through the actions of church officers and counselors after Nash returned to Utah, Bills said.
Nash called the Macon County Sheriff's Department four months ago to confess, Taylor said.
"He said he had something to tell us," Taylor said.
Nash has been excommunicated from the church, Bills said. The church is also working to help victims and their families, he said.
Taylor said both Nash and the LDS Church have been very cooperative in the investigation.
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