Austin Daily Herald

Larry Wayne Underhill, 57 of Austin, was charged Tuesday with five felony counts of criminal sexual conduct in Mower County Third Judicial District Court.

Underhill remains in the Mower County Jail on $40,000 bond.

He was charged with first, second and third degree criminal sexual conduct, use of minors in sexual performance and possession of pornographic materials involving minors.

Underhill was arrested following the disclosure by three granddaughters, ages 3, 4 and 8, that he had touched them inappropriately.

The children told their mother, who told her husband, Underhill's son, Saturday.

Police sources said the acts were not random, but apparently committed over a period of time.

The girls' father first went to Underhill's residence at 1920 Second Ave. SE, where he discovered sexually explicit pictures of his daughters on his father's home computer, according to an Austin Police Department report.

Austin police were contacted and an investigation launched. When a search warrant at the Underhill residence was executed, the pictures were seized along with other evidence and he was arrested and jailed Sunday.

The girls were examined at Austin Medical Center, according to police, and returned to their parents.

The police report indicated the grandfather regularly invited his son and daughter-in-law to send their three daughters to his residence this summer where he would watch them for the parents.

No date has been set for Underhill's next court appearance.