Law student arrested in Pittsburgh amid allegations of child sexual abuse in Tonga

A Mormon missionary accused of sexually abusing at least 14 children in Tonga was arrested on Thursday in Pittsburgh.

William James Purdy faces charges of sexual exploitation of children and transporting a minor with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct in federal court in Utah.

Following a hearing on Thursday in Pittsburgh, a federal magistrate judge ordered that Purdy, 28, be committed to the federal district of Utah.

According to a since-removed web page, Purdy was enrolled as a law student at Duquesne University and was working as a summer associate this year at Meyer Unkovic Scott law firm.

Purdy was a Mormon missionary in Tonga in 2017 and then an educator there from 2020 to 2023.

According to documents filed in federal court, Purdy engaged in a process of grooming the alleged child victims and their parents, buying them gifts like candy, toys, clothes and shoes, to earn their trust. He also offered extra tutoring to the children.

He used those positions, prosecutors said, to gain access to numerous boys.

“He preyed upon boys in remote communities, boys who did not have access to the same resources as he did,” according to the request for detention. “He chose boys who were unlikely to speak out about this abuse because of their conservative, religious culture and the stigma associated with male-on-male sexual abuse in their community, not to mention the shame normally associated with the disclosure of sexual abuse.”

Purdy then allegedly bribed the boys with gifts and other promises to keep them quiet, prosecutors said.

He also convinced the boys’ parents to allow them to visit his apartment and even live with him, promising he would take care of them and provide an education.

“All the time, he was sexually abusing them,” the federal filing said.

After an 8-year-old boy reported Purdy’s alleged abuse in Tonga in October 2022, criminal charges were filed. He was jailed for several days before being released on bond.

The government alleges that Purdy manipulated the court system and the parents of the alleged victims — lying in documents he submitted.

As part of the bond process, a mother of one of the boys Purdy was later accused of abusing wrote a letter on his behalf. She told the court that he was a “trustworthy man” who was “deeply committed to Tonga and especially to providing care for [her son],” the detention request said.

As part of his bail, Purdy’s passport was confiscated, and he repeatedly told the court he wanted to defend himself at trial.

Still, he repeatedly requested permission to travel to the United States, including for eye surgery.

Although the court denied his requests to travel, the government said that in March 2023, Purdy submitted a false application for a Tongan passport using his own photograph but the names of a mentally disabled Tongan man.

On March 29, 2023, the government said, Purdy checked in with police in Tonga as part of his bail conditions. The next day, he fled to Fiji using the falsified passport, the complaint said.

Once in Fiji, the government said, Purdy went to the U.S. Embassy and applied for an emergency replacement passport, writing that his had been stolen.

“It was taken from me in Tonga,” he wrote.

He received an emergency passport and flew to San Francisco and then on to his parent’s home in West Valley City, Utah.

A bench warrant was issued for him in Tonga.

While he still is listed as living in Utah, the government said he enrolled in law school in Pittsburgh and began work as a summer associate at a law firm between his first and second years.

No details were provided on Purdy’s arrest on Thursday.

However, the request for detention laid out in detail how the government alleges Purdy abused the boys in Tonga.

Purdy initially went to Tonga in February 2017 to serve a mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, living in a geographically isolated chain of islands that required a full-day boat trip to visit.

There, the complaint said, he was accused of sexually assaulting four boys who were as young as 8 years old.

“These acts were largely committed on church property, where Purdy lured the boys with access to electronics such as a Nintendo switch and remote-controlled cars and helicopters. No one else had these kinds of toys and games, and Purdy, as a missionary, was not supposed to have electronics either. Purdy bought the kids anything they wanted — ordering packages from the United States — and bought them snacks, fireworks, and other items of value. He offered cash and cellphones in exchange for sexual acts.”

Purdy returned to the United States but then visited Tonga again in late 2019.

Then in January 2020, Purdy began teaching at an international school on the island of Tongatapu, where, the government said, he found additional victims

“Purdy soon had various students living with him, under the guise of tutoring and providing enrichment for their studies. In reality, he was regularly abusing these boys — what he (and they) called ‘do[ing] the deal.’ ”

He frequently invited boys to his home to play video games, give them snacks and offer tutoring.

In some instances, the boys moved in.

The government alleges that Purdy also set up video cameras to record the boys in the bathroom. A search warrant executed on Purdy’s residence in Utah in August 2023 turned up a computer that had 175 such images.

In the request for detention, the government called Purdy a danger to the community and “the ultimate flight risk,” who did not stop his alleged abusive behavior even while under indictment.

“Purdy appears to be both highly motivated to sexually abuse minors and also confident that he will not be caught and brought to justice — so much so that he enrolled in law school, a profession that requires candor to the court,” the government filing said. “Purdy has never been candid. He has lied under oath, and this court cannot trust the word of either Purdy or his family members, who also promised that he would return for trial.”