http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/hud ... s-1.463821Hudson pastor released from jail in the Philippines
By Colette M. Jenkins
Beacon Journal religion writer
Published: February 3, 2014 - 07:26 AM
The Hudson pastor jailed in the Philippines on charges related to human trafficking is free.
The Rev. Joe Coffey, lead pastor at Christ Community Chapel, broke the news via Twitter this morning.
“Aftr 22 days tom Randall is free.all charges dropped! Praise God! Still prying for all truth to come out and 4 welfare of the children,” Coffey tweeted [@JoeCoffeyTalk] at 6:03 a.m. Monday.
Randall, of Stow, was arrested Jan. 12 [Jan. 13 in the Philippines, where there is a 13-hour time difference] during a raid by the Anti-Human Trafficking Division of the National Bureau of Investigation at the Sankey Samaritan Missions Inc. Orphanage in Lucena City. The orphanage was founded in 1998 by Randall and his wife, Karen. The couple moved to Northeast Ohio from Oklahoma last summer and Randall joined the staff at the Hudson church in November.
The raid at the orphanage reportedly came amid allegations that the facility had been operating as a front for human trafficking and that children living there had been sexually abused for years. Arrested along with Randall were Perfecto “Toto” Luchavez, who had served as Sankey administrator since 2005, and his son Mark Jayrold “Jake” Luchavez.
According to Filipino news reports, Randall was charged with obstruction of justice for negligence in handling allegations of abuse and sex trafficking. The Luchavezes were reportedly charged with violating Filipino anti-human trafficking laws. The younger Luchavez was also charged with rape.
At the time of the arrests, 31 orphans were rescued and released to the Department of Social Welfare and Development. The Christian Post reported that seven or eight orphans [both boys and girls] younger than 18 years old said they had been routinely raped since 2005 and that Randall failed to take action after being told of the abuse. The orphans avoided going to police for fear of having to find a new home, according to the report.
In Randall’s affidavit, filed with the Filipino court, he “vehemently” denied the allegations against him and protested his “illegal arrest.” The affidavit was obtained by the Akron Beacon Journal.
“I have not trafficked the children of Sankey nor did I ignore their complaints,” Randall stated in the affidavit, which also claimed authorities had no probable cause to arrest him without a warrant and that he was entitled to be released immediately based on a lack of evidence.