Former La Pine-area man arrested on abuse charges

A 72-year-old man who moved from the La Pine area to Metolius about a year ago and frequently babysat for neighbors was arrested Wednesday on more than a dozen sex abuse counts involving one girl, and it’s believed there is more than one victim, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said Thursday.

The sheriff’s office received a report Oct. 23 of sex abuse involving Louis Taiyon Apo, Sgt. William Bailey said.

An investigation determined Apo used to live in the same neighborhood as one or more victims in the La Pine area, he said.

After a week of investigation determined probable cause, deputies contacted Apo at his Metolius home and took him to the sheriff’s office in Bend, where he was interviewed and later booked into the jail.

Apo was arrested on two-dozen charges, including 14 counts of unlawful sexual penetration, three counts of first-degree sodomy, six counts of first-degree sex abuse and one count of coercion. He was held on just over $2 million bail.

An investigation found the crimes took place over the past five years, while Apo lived in the La Pine area, and the past year in Metolius.

“During this time, it was reported that Apo had ongoing contact with numerous children in the neighborhood,” Bailey said in a news release. “Apo befriended families in the neighborhood and often babysat for his neighbors.”

Bailey noted Apo had lived previously in Denver, San Francisco and Eureka, California.

The investigation is ongoing, Bailey said, and more charges are likely. He said DCSO detectives believe there may be more victims.

Anyone with children who have had contact with Apo is asked to contact sheriff’s Detective Josh Barker at 541-617-3331.

The district attorney’s office filed a 16-count initial charging document Thursday morning, listing 16 charges against Apo: six counts of first-degree sexual penetration, four counts of first-degree sodomy, three counts of first-degree sex abuse and one count of second-degree sex abuse.

The charging document, called an information, lists alleged incidents between September 2013 and Sept. 6, 2019, all in Deschutes County and involving one victim, a girl who was under 12 when most of the crimes occurred and under 14 in some cases.

Apo was due for an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon. Online court records show no previous criminal charges in Oregon involving Apo.