Former Sarasota bishop accused of sexually assaulting children over four decades

By Michael Moore Jr.
Herald-Tribune
January 03, 2020

https://bit.ly/2ZTLDSl

Henry Lee Porter was a bishop at Westcoast Center for Human Development, which he founded in 1971, for 45 years before stepping down.

Bishop Henry Porter in Sarasota in 2016.

A former bishop and founder of the Westcoast Center for Human Development was arrested Thursday by Sarasota Police after multiple investigations “demonstrated more than four decades of children and adults suffering sexual abuse by Henry Lee Porter Sr.,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

Although there are eight victims listed in court documents, Porter, 72, was arrested Thursday by Sarasota Police for one count of alleged sexual battery of a child under 12 years of age — a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. Porter founded the Westcoast Gospel Chorus and was pastor of the church he incorporated in 1971 for 45 years before stepping down in June 2016 and allowing his son, Henry Porter II, to take over.

Porter was arrested by police and booked into Sarasota County jail on Thursday, where he is being held without bond.

No one at the Westcoast Center for Human Development responded to requests from the Herald-Tribune for comment Friday afternoon.

The arrest resulted from the most recent in a string of investigations conducted by Sarasota detectives dating back to 1990, as a number of victims told investigators over the years that Porter forced oral and anal sex on them and made them reciprocate, according to court documents.

But all of the incidents of alleged sexual abuse were outside the statute of limitations when the victims provided statements to law enforcement, which prevented criminal charges, Porter’s arrest report states.

On Oct. 29, 2019, police received notification of a video on Facebook titled “Art of Manipulation — My survival of Molestation” from a user who said he had been sexually abused as a child by a bishop at Westcoast Center for Human Development. This video prompted the most recent investigation that would lead to Porter’s arrest, according to court documents. The victim told detectives that his first memory of sexual abuse started at 15 and continued until he was 21.

The victim said that the sexual abuse involved fondling, masturbation, oral and anal sex with guidance from Porter. He said that the abuse often occurred in Porter’s inner office, in the Westcoast Center for Human Development.

A couple of weeks later, an interview was conducted with a second victim, age 11, who said she was sexually battered while under “the care and keeping” of Porter, with one of the batteries allegedly occurring in the master bedroom of Porter’s home.

A third victim, who said he was 11 years old when the sexual abuse began, said he was sexually battered on “numerous occasions” in the Westcoast Center for Human Development, where he said Porter would often send for him to come to his office. The victim stated that the acts were performed discretely via him coming to Porter’s inner office one way with Porter arriving from the other so that “Porter was not seen bringing the child back toward the inner/private office.” Once the sexual acts concluded, the victim would leave in the same manner, according to reports.

This victim said the sexual abuse often occurred during school hours or immediately before or after church services inside the office. Other times, they occurred during travel together. The victim was able to produce photographic evidence that seemed to support this timeline, which was also supported by medical documentation, according to court documents.

Detective Jeff Birdwell interviewed a fourth victim who was abandoned at Westcoast Center for Human Development by his father at age 12, according to reports. This victims said Porter started “grooming him within the first three to four months of his being there, where Porter began touching him to see if the victim would tell anyone about it.”

This victim said that he was shocked and confused about what to do. He was concerned that if he told anyone, no one would believe him. And since he was being raised by Porter and the church and therefore depended on them for shelter, food and well-being, he felt like he had nowhere to go and that this was his home now, according to reports.

Birdwell and others interviewed eight alleged male victims, from age 14 to young adults, who recalled similar facts and instances, the reports stated.

The previous criminal investigations were conducted by SPD in 1990 and 2001-02, with similar allegations of children being abused by Porter being made. In the 2001-02 investigation, an anonymous letter was obtained by SPD that identified 40 named individuals that had allegedly been victims of his abuse.

Throughout the previous investigations, more than 20 similar “fact victims” provided statements to law enforcement outlining the abuse they allegedly suffered by Porter, with much of it occurring during their time at the church, on mission trips throughout America and abroad on church-sponsored trips. However, all of the statements were outside the statute of limitations, preventing criminal charges.

Porter grew up in Sarasota and graduated from Booker High School as valedictorian, where he went on to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and Yale, pursuing a degree in mathematics.

In 1969, he founded the Westcoast Gospel Chorus. Two years later, he incorporated Westcoast, a trans-denominational church.

In 1974 he started visiting prisons and jails to preach, sing and, in some cases, testify to help inmates.