Prosecutor won’t file sex abuse charges against former IHOPKC volunteer youth group leader
Criminal charges will not be filed against a former volunteer youth group leader and musician at the International House of Prayer-Kansas City accused of sexually abusing a teen in 2010 during private counseling sessions.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office is declining to charge Larry Lucky because of a lack of evidence, spokesman Michael Mansur told The Star on Wednesday.
“The yellow sheet, which is what we send over to the police when we decline a case, cites insufficient evidence to prove the victim’s age at the time of the events beyond a reasonable doubt,” Mansur said.
Justin Werner, who filed a police report with the Kansas City Police Department in July 2022, told The Star he received a call from an assistant prosecuting attorney on Tuesday notifying him that charges wouldn’t be filed.
“It’s disappointing,” he said. “Of course, I had hoped there would be charges. But I think at the end of it all, I knew it was going to be his word versus mine.”
Werner, now 31, said he provided police with a Facebook message that showed he and Lucky were to start meeting weekly for counseling starting in February 2010, when he would have been 16. But he said Lucky gave police messages between the two that indicated he and Werner had met when Werner was 17 and 18. The legal age for consent in Missouri is 17.
Werner acknowledged that he did meet with Lucky then, but said it was because he had tried to block out the abuse and move on with his life in as normal a way as possible, which for a while included maintaining contact with Lucky.
Werner said the assistant prosecutor and one of the police investigators told him that Lucky “did not deny my story.”
“The distinction is he said I was 17 and it was consensual, versus 16, when I wasn’t in a position to give consent so it would have been illegal,” he said.
Werner said he was told that if the case went to trial, it’s likely that arguments would be made about how old he was when the incidents occurred. And the assistant prosecutor said proving he was 16 at the time would be difficult, Werner said.
“She said there’s just not enough there, in terms of evidence, to get over that hump,” he said. “She definitely thought I was taken advantage of. But even with that said, there’s not enough evidence to prove it.”
Lucky, a sound design engineer, declined to comment and referred The Star to his attorney. In August, he called the allegations “fabrications” and said in an email to The Star that Werner was not 16, but 18, at the time of their meetings.
On Aug. 9, The Star reported the allegations by Werner, who publicly said for the first time that Lucky sexually assaulted him in early 2010 when he was 16. At the time, Werner alleged, he was attending Lucky’s small youth group at IHOPKC and seeing him at his south Kansas City duplex for private counseling. Werner and other former IHOPKC youth also told The Star that Lucky would take boys to the gym, then ask them to shower nude with him, telling them he needed to cleanse them of their sins.
Current IHOPKC leaders, still dealing with the aftermath of a sex scandal involving founder Mike Bickle that surfaced last fall, told The Star in early August that it was the first they’d heard of the allegations involving Lucky.
After checking their records, they said Lucky had no official role in IHOPKC’s Student Ministries department, did not lead any youth groups and had volunteered a few hours a day for just six weeks in January and February 2010.
They said Lucky played music sets in IHOPKC’s 24/7 Prayer Room and worked in the IT department for four months. After a parent reported inappropriate contact “alleging that he met up with teen boys at a local community center where they showered together,” they said, Lucky was “terminated” from the Prayer Room and IT positions on Feb. 28, 2010. And two former leaders told The Star that Lucky was banned from the entire missions base.
But archived videos from the Prayer Room show Lucky performing there years later. In one, dated Sept. 3, 2018, Lucky is playing bass guitar.
Another video shows Lucky playing on stage during IHOPKC’s 2011 Onething conference, an annual event that was held every December at Bartle Hall, drawing thousands of young adults. And Lucky’s fiancee — who later became his wife — posted on Facebook in 2020 and 2021 that he was playing in the Prayer Room.
Outside investigation moves forward
Meanwhile, a third-party investigation into sexual misconduct at IHOPKC and coverup by its leaders is in its second month.
And the law enforcement expert conducting the investigation has already interviewed dozens of witnesses, the organization overseeing the investigation said.
An update was posted Monday on the website of Tikkun Global, a network of Messianic Jewish congregations and ministries that serves eight congregations in Israel and about 30 in the U.S.
“Our investigator, Jim Holler, has interviewed over 60 brave individuals who came forward as of last weekend,” the update said. “These have been on Zoom, phone calls, email, and in-person — at the interviewee’s request.
“ ... We are greatly encouraged that people are sharing their experiences; we recognize that trust is a process and must be earned. We know this is a difficult step for many, and we applaud your courage.”
Tikkun Global announced the outside investigation on Sept. 11, saying it had hired Firefly Investigations, a Pennsylvania company with law enforcement expertise, to do the work. The announcement followed a nearly yearlong push by former IHOPKC leaders, known as the Advocate Group, for an independent investigation into allegations against Bickle and others in the 24/7 global prayer ministry.
Tikkun is overseeing the investigation, the Advocate Group said, to ensure independence.
Founded by Holler, a former police chief with the Liberty Township Police Department in Adams County, Pennsylvania, Firefly Investigations has a team that includes current and retired law enforcement investigators, experienced therapists and forensic interviewers from across the country, its website says.
Tikkun said it has engaged attorney Rachael Denhollander as a communications and educational consultant. Denhollander, a former gymnast, is widely known as the first woman to publicly accuse USA Gymnastics’ team doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse and pursue charges against him.
Tikkun also said that it had expanded the scope of the investigation to include incidents that occurred before 1999 — the year IHOPKC was formed. It did so, Tikkun said, because after talking to survivors and advocates, “we recognized that the 1999 time frame of the scope excluded reporters (of alleged sexual abuse and mishandling) whose stories are relevant but took place earlier.”
Werner is among those who have contacted Firefly. After his interview with Holler, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he “felt confident in the investigator’s impartiality and felt comfortable meeting with them.”
“Their approach was respectful and thorough,” he said. “If you’re considering meeting with FireFly, I highly recommend it. They’re committed to uncovering the truth and have been a valuable ally in that pursuit.”
This story was originally published October 17, 2024 at 9:55 AM.
