Priest charged with sexually abusing Filipino boys

HSI urges potential victims to come forward.

CINCINNATI – An American priest from Cincinnati has been charged by a federal criminal complaint for allegedly sexually abusing minor boys.  The charges follow an international investigation that spanned two continents by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and authorities in the Philippines.

Kenneth B. Hendricks, 77, of Cincinnati, was arrested by Manila-based HSI special agents alongside Filipino  authorities Tuesday evening in the Philippines, where he currently serves as a missionary priest.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Steve Francis, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), announced the charges. 

The government unsealed the criminal complaint today. According to that document and its supporting affidavit, on November 13, HSI received information regarding alleged sexual exploitation of multiple minor Filipino boys. 

Information indicated that a Catholic priest – later identified as Father Hendricks – had been sexually assaulting the boys. Subsequently, several victims have been identified and provided statements to law enforcement.

For example, one victim said he had been sexually abused by the local parish priest since 2009, when the boy was approximately 12 years old. Another victim stated he was sexually abused by Hendricks beginning when the victim was seven years old.

One victim said he and Hendricks engaged in anal sex at least a dozen times and oral sex more than 30 times. Further, Hendricks allegedly inserted a hose and his fingers into the boy’s anus. 

Another victim said he masturbated Hendricks’s penis approximately 40 times and that Hendricks did the same to the boy at least 60 times.

Victims said Hendricks began by kissing them and the contact escalated to touching their penises, oral and anal sex.

Hendricks allegedly had a number of minor boys residing with him. It is alleged he insisted they take baths together, and would molest the victims alone or with other boys. The priest allegedly warned the victims that if they told anyone they would all go to prison.

In a recorded conversation with one of the victims, Hendrick stated: “This will probably be the scenario is, there will be a meeting and then it will be decided, you know, what your parents want to do about anything. Do they want to try…want to press charges, uh, whatever see, but that’s between them and the Bishop, I have nothing to do with that. I just get the fallout afterwards.”

In the same conversation, Hendricks said: “they will decide, ask you what your decision is, what you’re going to do, whether there will be a case or not or whether, you know, a settlement, I don’t know. But as far as after that, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I really will have to probably really resign, retire now.”

Hendricks is charged as a United States citizen with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, which is a federal crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. 

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by HSI and the Assistance of the Philippines National Police, as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Christy L. Muncy and Timothy D. Oakley, who are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

If you have information related to this alleged conduct, or believe you are also a victim, please contact HSI at 513-246-1461.

Convicted in child porn case, rogue priest still preaches as he crafts his own narrative

Brandie Kessler and Dylan Segelbaum, York Daily Record

The general's report comes after years of state and local law enforcement uncovering cases of sexual abuse within the Catholic church.

Nate Chute, IndyStar

The Catholic church kicked him out. He is among 301 "predator priests" named by a grand jury. But he still leads a Catholic church in York County.

A York Daily Record/Sunday News investigation shows how he has tried to discredit the conviction.

He tells supporters various stories about why he was convicted of a crime.

Harry Spencer realized that he was home.

He’d grown uncomfortable with the direction of the Catholic Church, particularly since Vatican II. The doctrines had changed. The Mass had changed. So had all the traditions and rituals.

Then, about seven years ago, Spencer started going to what would become St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Lower Windsor Township. It offers a traditional Latin Mass. The Rev. Virgil Tetherow, also known as Father Gabriel, leads the church.

“I have never met a priest that I’ve felt more comfortable with in his religiosity and his ability to teach the religion of the Roman Catholic faith,” Spencer said. “I love my religion. And Father Tetherow is a true Catholic priest.”

But that is not what the Catholic church says.

In fact, Tetherow “is not recognized as a priest, is prohibited from presenting himself as clergy and is not associated with the Diocese of Harrisburg,” said Mike Barley, a spokesman for the diocese, who encouraged the faithful to not attend Tetherow's services.

Tetherow, 54, is among 301 “predator priests” named in the recent landmark grand jury report that details widespread sexual abuse in six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. He was arrested in 2005 after police found child pornography on two computers and he later pleaded guilty to criminal use of a communication facility.

In a statement provided to the grand jury, he maintains his conviction isn't what it seems and that the grand jury report distorts the public record. He’s never been accused of physical sexual abuse of children.

Many of the clergy named in the almost 900-page report are dead. But Tetherow, who declined to be interviewed, is still actively running a church — and there’s nothing, and apparently no one, that can prevent him from doing so. A York Daily Record/Sunday News investigation based on dozens of interviews, Right-to-Know Law requests, court records and secret canonical letters reveals how he’s been able to weave a narrative to discredit the conviction and keep loyal followers in his flock.

READ: 'Punished' for being sexually abused in York County: Jehovah's Witnesses' culture of cover-up.

Detective Forced To Resign After Trying To Charge A Notorious Paedophile Priest

by Danny Tran

A former detective, who was financially and professionally ruined by his own superiors for trying to bring a paedophile priest to justice, will receive compensation almost 50 years after he was pushed out of Victoria Police.

Denis Ryan gave up his police pension when he chose to resign from the force after being ordered to drop his investigation into Monsignor John Day, a Catholic paedophile priest who preyed on children in the Mallee.

The decision had a profound impact on his life, costing him a marriage and the prospect of a comfortable retirement. Until now, he has lived in a rented unit on the proceeds of an aged pension.

But a month after his plight was revealed by the ABC, the Victorian Government has reached a confidential settlement with the 86-year-old.

"Using a colloquial term, I'm out of my socks," said Mr Ryan from his home in Mildura.
"Heck it's a great, great thing to hear," he said. "It'll make quite a difference to me."

Mr Ryan said he had no plans for the money at this stage.

"When I come down to earth, I'll think about such things," he said.

But on the question of redemption, Mr Ryan was much more certain.

"I don't think I'll ever feel vindicated," he said.

"It'll never leave my mind," he said. "I just think of the victims, they suffered so much more than me."

PHOTO When he resigned from the force, Denis Ryan lost his police pension and his benefits.

Three family photos on a cabinet, with the focus on a photo of a young man wearing a police uniform.
ABC RN: JEREMY STORY CARTER
'He was crucified for doing his job'
The details of the settlement have not been disclosed but it will be paid in a lump sum, according to Vernon Knight, who handled the negotiations on behalf of Mr Ryan.

Exposing a national shame

The key moments that led to one of Australia's most shocking inquiries.
"Denis is 86, he wants to live the remainder of his life with a measure of comfort and I guess validation, restoring some of the dignity that he would've lost over those years," Mr Knight said.

"We actually quantified that and said, 'Well wouldn't it be nice if you lived in your own unit and you had a few bob to do some of the things that you would've wanted to do?'"
But many in Mildura's tight-knit community see this as a recognition that goes far beyond the dollar amount Mr Ryan will receive.

"He was crucified for doing his job, for endeavouring to protect children and for endeavouring to call to account those who were responsible," Mr Knight said.
"At long last, he's had his day."

'Their allegiance was to a cathedral and not the people'
In the years after he resigned from the police force, Mr Ryan was forced to find work as a fruit packer and would later become mayor of the Mildura Shire.

But despite surrendering his badge, he pursued a relentless campaign to expose the role that Victoria Police's most senior officers played in covering up for Monsignor Day.

In 2015, Mr Ryan testified before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

"We do not doubt that Victoria Police transferred Detective Ryan from Mildura for investigating allegations that Monsignor Day had sexually abused children in Mildura," the royal commissioners wrote in their findings.

Victoria Police officially apologised to Mr Ryan in 2016, but the weight of the force's actions continue to weigh on him.

"I think very much of the then-children that are now adults whose lives have been shattered by the acts of a paedophile priest," he said.

"At the time, Gerald Ridsdale, who's another notorious paedophile, he would've been caught in the net if the police had listened to me ... but they didn't.

"Their allegiance was towards a cathedral and not to the people of Victoria that they'd sworn an oath to protect. They did not protect them."

But Mr Ryan had a message for the Premier.

"I certainly want to say to the Government of Victoria, led by Daniel Andrews, when he heard this, he leapt into action and finished within a month what has taken 47 years," Mr Ryan said.

"I'm very pleased. Thank you."

Trinity Mount Ministries