Anchorage Daily News

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- A man charged with child exploitation in northern Arizona was arrested Friday in Alaska, authorities said.The Coconino County Sheriff's Office said Richard J. Rush, 48, was arrested by Alaska State Troopers in Talkeetna.

Troopers contacted Rush at about 3:30 p.m. Friday at a restaurant in Talkeetna, where he was working as a cook. He was arrested on a $75,000 warrant that listed charges of sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse.

He was jailed at Mat-Su Pretrial in Palmer.

Rush formerly lived in Glendale, Ariz. Coconino County authorities said they will seek his extradition.

The Cococnino sheriff's office said Rush was associated with Donald Leacock, who has been indicted on 24 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

Leacock, 51, married a teenage girl and then invited other men to have sex with her and other young women while he took photographs, authorities said.

Leacock moved to Ash Fork, a rural northern Arizona community between Flagstaff and Kingman, Ariz., two years ago.

Authorities said Leacock lived with his ex-wife and the 16-year-old girl he married in 2007.

ADVERTISEMENT