By Virgil Dickson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The Prince George's County town of Riverdale Park has fired its public works director, a 49-year-old man who was arrested early this month on charges of sexually abusing a 16-year-old female friend of his daughter's.

The Town Council voted last week to remove Larry R. Goff Sr. immediately. "Based on the charges, the legal proceedings and the discussion with him, a decision was reached that he would not be able to return to his duties for a substantial amount of time, and we voted to terminate," Mayor Vernon Archer said.

Goff, who was released on $95,000 bond, could not be reached for comment. The phone at his home in Edgewater, in Anne Arundel County, was not answered in recent days, and court records do not indicate that he has hired an attorney.

Goff had held the job in Riverdale Park, a town of about 7,000 near Hyattsville, since January. Before that, he was the public works director in Bladensburg, officials there said.

According to a charging document filed in court, Goff assaulted the girl while she visited his daughter on four occasions late last year. He is accused of showing her computer images of himself naked as well as videos of him having sex with young girls, the document says.

Other times, it alleges, Goff sent the girl instant messages telling her he "missed her" and "loved her" and asking her to send him naked pictures of herself.

During one of the visits, it says, he provided her with alcohol and then pulled down her shirt and bra and photographed her with his cellphone camera. During another, he exposed himself to her, the document says. He also once offered to help her get a tattoo or a tongue piercing in exchange for sexual favors, it says.

In February, the girl and her mother reported the alleged contacts to social service workers. Investigators searched Goff's home the next month, confiscating computers and cellphones. According to court records, they found digital images of child pornography and graphic sex acts, some of which the girl recognized.

Goff is charged with more than a dozen offenses, including sexually abusing a minor and possessing child pornography. The case is scheduled for trial July 31 in Anne Arundel County District Court.