A Houston restaurant released a statement after an employee is accused of sticking his genitals into open food items and possessing several videos of child pornography on his cellphone, according to charging documents.
Othello Larenzo Holmes, 27, has been charged with five counts of possession of child pornography and indecent assault.
Kulture Restaurant issued a statement:
“Two weeks ago, we learned that one of our employees had engaged in an unacceptable act contrary to our code of conduct and outside of his employment he was involved in reprehensible illegal activities, of which we were not aware.
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. 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.
The employee has been terminated, and we have taken all necessary steps to restore our normal services to the public. We strongly believe this is an isolated incident resulting from retaliatory measures due to a demotion. Most importantly, this dangerous pedophile is off the streets.
We are continuing to work with ourselves and our employees and law enforcement as this ongoing investigation unfolds.”
What happened?
The investigation was launched on April 4 after a Harris County deputy arrived at the restaurant in downtown Houston to meet with the restaurant’s manager.
The manager showed deputies a video of Holmes placing his penis into open food items at the location, records show.
Holmes reportedly confessed to putting his genitals in jelly, stating “he had a sexual urge, however, he stopped himself before he ejaculated.” He also admitted to having these urges frequently and has a history of sexual offenses, saying he has a problem with these sexual urges and needs help, records show.
It was not clear from the documents if this was Holmes’ first time allegedly contaminating the food with his genitals.
Reached by phone, a manager at Kulture Restaurant told KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry that Holmes had been a cook at the restaurant for several months and that he no longer works at the establishment.
He was subsequently charged with indecent assault, which led to further investigation by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Digital Forensic Unit.
*KPRC 2 has reached out to Houston Public Health to see if they have received any complaints or reports of illness.*
Child pornography seized from suspect’s cellphone
Holmes reportedly gave written consent to the forensic analysis of his cellphone on April 15.
According to documents, investigators extracted over 100 images and five videos of child pornography. The videos contained children between the ages of infancy and teens engaged in sexual intercourse and various sexual acts, according to the documents.
Records show an image was also found in the device, showing a chat conversation on Telegram, a social media platform. The conversation was reportedly between Holmes and another username “Princess” in a chat room named the “Devil Lair.”
In the conversation, Holmes says, “Super pervy yesterday. I wish I had access to kids,” and Princess says, “I wish you did too (cry face emoji),” records show.
Two more videos were extracted, which show Holmes fondling his genitals while lying near an unidentified child, who appears to be under 6 years old, according to documents. Investigators stated he was identified as the man in the video by the tattoos on his arm and the bedding seen in other videos.
“We kept investigating this person. And, boy, I’m glad we did, because we got a subpoena for his phone, and we found some really horrible things on his phone. We found child pornography, and we are fearful that he potentially may have and at some point, molested young children,” Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen told KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry.
Due to the nature of the evidence, statements made by Holmes about him needing help with his sexual urges and the Telegram conversation, it was determined Holmes was a danger to society and should not be around children.
“I can tell y’all this individual is a predator. It is, and I don’t say that lightly,” Rosen said.
Investigators are looking to speak with parents who have children who may know Holmes because they believe he may have been creating his own child pornography and sharing it. You can contact them at (713)-755-7628.
‘Restaurant was very proactive’
“I want to make it clear that the restaurant was very proactive with law enforcement,” Rosen said.
“When the restaurant found out about this behavior going on, they immediately shut down, to everybody. They had not served a single patron of the restaurant. And they shut down and only had their staff, their cook staff go in and throw away items in the kitchen and or sterilize things and take the appropriate corporate responsible actions to fix the problem,” Rosen said.
Holmes has worked at several restaurants in the area, according to Rosen who also said investigators believe Holmes may have done the same thing at a hotel restaurant where he once worked.
Holmes was booked into the Harris County Jail on a $500,000 bond for the child pornography cases, records show.