VENTURA : Minister May Face Added Sex Charges

A former Ventura minister whose child-molestation conviction was overturned two months ago may face additional charges when he is retried, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Robert Henry, former rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Loma Vista Road, was convicted in 1988 of molesting a 7-year-old boy in his church office. The jury could not agree on five other counts and the Ventura County district attorney’s office dismissed them. Henry was sentenced to six years in prison.

In May, however, U. S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi in Los Angeles overturned the conviction. The judge said the jury should not have heard testimony linking Henry to other molestations for which he was never charged.

Takasugi also said Henry must be released by Saturday unless a new trial is under way.

At a hearing Tuesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Donald D. Coleman said he is ready to retry Henry and added that he wants to reinstate the five molestation counts that were dropped in 1988.

At the defendant’s request, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Allan L. Steele appointed the public defender’s office to represent Henry. The attorneys for both sides will return to Steele’s courtroom this morning to determine how the case will proceed.

Henry, 62, is being held in Ventura County Jail without bail.