DENVER (KDVR) — Arapahoe County investigators are looking for more potential victims of an alleged child sex offender. The FOX31 Problem Solvers obtained court documents that detail the abuse that dates back to 2001.
Investigators say there are at least seven victims, ranging in age from 4 to 16. The cases they know about date back to 2001, but they say he may have started before that.
Allan Richard Long is facing 41 counts relating to the sexual abuse of children. Long has ties to Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming and Montana. Investigators believe he may have committed multiple sex assault crimes in these states and possibly others. He was a volunteer firefighter, tow truck driver, truck driver and truck dispatcher.
According to the arrest affidavit, his girlfriend’s children told their father about incidents, which were investigated in 2007: “Allan would touch himself while they were in the bathtub. Allan did a lot of weird things that made her uncomfortable. Allan threatened to do something bad if they told anyone.”
Martha Long and Rona Culler were also arrested and charged with felony sexual assault.
The Problem Solvers asked the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office why they were not arrested in 2007 when the investigation began. They sent us this response:
Based on our review of the records from this case, it appears that in 2007 when sheriff’s investigators were looking into this case, some of the victims were very young and unwilling to disclose, and key witnesses did not respond to the investigator’s attempts to contact them. The investigator felt that he did not have probable cause to take the case forward and deactivated the case pending contact with those witnesses.
Fortunately, at the Sheriff’s Office, we have checks that are implemented for cases that have been deactivated. One of these checks happened in this case and was sent to an investigator for follow-up. Once the new investigator looked into the case, some of the victims who were unwilling to disclose when they were children were more open to talking to Investigators as adults. These new interviews gave the Sheriff’s Office probable cause to be able to file the cases.
Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office
Long is facing charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and sexual assault on a child using force or threats. He is being held on a $1 million bond.
If you believe you are a victim or if you have information about Long, you are asked to contact Investigator Andrew Fehringer at 720-874-4065 or afehringer@arapahoegov.com.