Texas Restaurant Worker Accused of Putting His Genitals in Food Items
Othello Larenzo Holmes is also accused of possessing photos and videos showing child sex abuse
Content warning: The following article contains descriptions of child sex abuse material.
A Houston man is facing charges of attempted indecent assault — and multiple unrelated possession of child pornography charges — after he was accused of putting his genitals in food at the restaurant at which he worked.
According to police reports from the first precinct of the Harris County Constables' Office obtained by PEOPLE, Othello Larenzo Holmes, 27, was accused by the owner of Houston restaurant Kulture of placing his genitals on open food items. The owner alerted local authorities, and on April 5, a manager showed officers video surveillance footage allegedly showing Holmes placing his genitals in the food.
According to court documents, Holmes was arrested and charged with attempted indecent assault. In a later interview with investigators, he allegedly admitted to placing his genitals in jelly, the documents claim.
Holmes also allegedly told investigators that "has these urges frequently and has a history of sexual offenses" and "needs help," per the court documents.
"We took immediate action by shutting down our establishment, cleaning the entire space, discarding all existing inventory, and contacting the Police to have the employee arrested immediately," Kulture wrote in part in a statement to multiple outlets, including KPRC and FOX 26. "Additionally, we worked with our security team to enhance our camera systems. These actions were implemented within one hour of the incident being brought to our attention, ensuring that the matter was addressed before the business opened again."
Holmes later posted bond in the amount of $100 and was released.
Following the initial indecent assault investigation, Holmes allowed authorities to conduct a forensic analysis of his cell phone. After the Harris County District Attorney's digital forensic unit obtained his phone on April 15, investigators flagged that he allegedly had over 100 videos and images showing child sex abuse on the device.
According to court documents, Holmes' phone allegedly had videos and images showing children "between the ages of infancy to teens engaged in sexual intercourse" and other lewd acts. Five videos allegedly showed children believed to be under the age of 10 engaging in sexual acts.
Using images of his tattoos and bedding seen in other videos on his phone, investigators identified two videos that allegedly shows Holmes engaged in a sexual act while a child "who appears to be under 6 years of age" is present, documents state.
Investigators also found that Holmes' phone allegedly contained evidence that he was using a Telegram chat room to discuss these child sex abuse acts with another user named "princess." Documents allege that he wrote "I wish I had access to kids" during a conversation on the platform.
Holmes has now been charged with five counts of possession of child pornography, according to information from the Harris County District Clerk.
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"Yesterday we announced the arrest of Othello Larenzo Holmes. He was originally arrested for putting his genitals in food at a restaurant where he worked," Texas Constable Alan Rosen wrote in a statement to Facebook, following Holmes' arrest. "Once our investigators got a call from the restaurant owner we not only arrested him after viewing video evidence- but we also noticed he had thousands of child [sex abuse] files on his phone. He was rearrested because our investigators went the extra mile to look into this guy who appears to be a predator."
Holmes is now being held in the Harris County Jail and is next set to appear in court on June 6 for the possession charges, and on June 12 for the attempted indecent assault charge. His bond has been set at $500,000, or $100,000 per charge.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
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Read the original article on People.