A West Valley City man has been arrested on allegations that he sexually abused minors for several years while serving a church mission overseas.
Prosecutors say William James Purdy groomed and sexually abused multiple minor boys while serving a Latter-day Saint mission in Tonga.
A West Valley City man has been arrested on allegations that he sexually abused minors for several years while serving a church mission overseas.
William James Purdy, 28, was indicted on July 16 and arrested Thursday.
According to court documents, Purdy traveled to Tonga in 2017 for his mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While there, prosecutors say, he sexually abused multiple minor boys.
Purdy returned to Tonga in late 2019 to teach at a school in the area, but allegedly groomed and sexually abused numerous male students, even living with some of the victims and providing them with gifts and money for the abuse.
In 2022, Purdy was arrested by Tongan police when an 8-year-old boy disclosed that he had been sexually assaulted during tutoring sessions. Detectives said Purdy continued to abuse children after he was released.
Purdy fled Tonga before his March 2023 trial by using an assumed identity and returning to Utah.
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