As of Tuesday, Tom Randall, a pastor at Hudson’s non-denominational megachurch Christ Community Chapel, was awaiting trial or dismissal from a holding cell in Manila, Philippines, where he has been detained since January 16 on charges related to sex trafficking.
Randall, a former professional basketball player in the Philippines and longtime missionary there, returned to the island nation in December with his wife Karen for a two-month trip inspired in part by the devastation of Super Typhoon Hayan. According to a January 19 video sermon by Christ Community Chapel pastor Joe Coffey, Randall intended to do three things while overseas: distribute meals through his international nonprofit World Harvest; proselytize via an organized basketball game (complete with halftime unicycle show); and touch base with the leadership at the Sankey Samaritan Orphanage (which Randall founded with his wife in 1998) in the wake of misconduct allegations.
As Coffey explained it, the manager at the orphanage, one Perfecto “Toto” Luchavez, was said to have “kissed” a 15-year-old girl there. Those charges were later dropped when the teenager recanted her accusation, saying she made it up because she was angry about having been disciplined. Randall underwent extensive questioning with the Filipino versions of both the FBI and Child Protective Services.
Later accusations surfaced, however, that the orphanage had been operating as a front for sex trafficking, and that many of the children in residence had been suffering repeated sexual abuse for years. Randall was charged with obstruction of justice, while Luchavez and his son, Mark “Jake” Luchavez, were charged with violating the country’s anti-human trafficking laws. Thirty-one orphans, several of them under the age of 18, gave sworn statements that they had been routinely raped since 2005, and that Randall had failed to take action after being told of the abuse.
Pastor Joe Coffey, who “know[s] how Tom thinks,” and “know[s] how Tom loves,” told his congregation that Randall’s imprisonment was the result of a necessarily hyper-responsive Filipino government that takes action first and asks questions later. He told one Christian media outlet that the veracity of any claims about Tom Randall’s involvement in sex trafficking were “beyond the pale.”
Tim Schofield, from Christ Community Chapel, issued a press release on Friday saying that the Filipino government could only legally hold Randall for 15 days (until January 29) before charging or releasing him, and that everyone was basically crossing their fingers, praying a lot, and hoping for the best.
Randall, who has had intermittent access to his mobile phone, has texted Joe Coffey mostly about his health and the evangelization of his cell mates. Randall has been distributing Bibles, establishing bilingual prayer groups, and sharing buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken purchased by his wife and the network of global disciples he’s amassed. (Coffey likened Randall to It’s a Wonderful Life’s George Bailey).
Randall even managed to enlist the public support of Filipino model/actor/cosmetic surgeon Hayden Kho — himself the subject of a 2010 sex tape controversy — and has subsequently become something of a celebrity in the steamy, cramped single cell where he’s been held with 40 other men and one toilet, according to reports and psalm-laden Facebook posts.
But the “Free Tom Randall” Facebook page, currently with 35,000+ likes turns out to be essentially a Randall propaganda machine, with much more regard for “staying positive” than uncovering the truth about what’s actually going on over there.
Scene reached out to Randall supporters on the Facebook page with the intent to get some personal anecdotes about Randall for this story. One responder, a woman named Diane Kavalchek, who attends Christ Community Chapel, said that many Facebook comments had been removed, including a link she posted to a recent Akron Beacon-Journal piece which featured extensive quotes from Joe Mauk. Mauk is the missionary — and dear friend of Tom Randall’s — who reported the abuse and was thereafter characterized by Joe Coffey as a “rival missionary” with a “personal vendetta.”
Mauk’s Facebook posts and comments in the ABJ piece tell a different story:
“I am not the one bringing charges,” he said. “I did pass on information [about alleged abuse] I received. I passed the information first and foremost to my longtime (33 years) friend and ministry partner, Tom Randall. We have ministered together on many outreaches over many years. He is one of the finest servants of the Lord that I have ever met. I considered him closer than a brother. I, of course, assumed when he heard reports of abuse that he would act immediately. This he did not do, in fact he said he knew of some of these reports and I should leave it to him to handle it himself.”
Mauk explains in detail his process for reporting the abuse — to the authorities and then to a pastoral crisis intervention team — in comments that were deleted from the Free Tom Randall Facebook page. Mauk says that in the wake of this news, he has been treated like a traitor and a villain.
“Kids were being raped,” he told the ABJ. “What did you want me to do?”
The story has morphed from one of a Christian missionary detained overseas to one of a Christian community refusing to acknowledge a potential truth about his detainment. They’re praying not for justice and healing, as they claim, but for the image of man they hold in high esteem to remain intact.
“Whenever news breaks that a beloved pastor, missionary or family member is accused of a sexual impropriety or crime, the impulse of many within the Christian community is to discredit the report,” the president emeritus of an organization called Missionary Kids Safety Net, told the ABJ. “This is also true when the accusation is one of negligence and/or complicity of not reporting sexual assault to the police and other civil authorities.”
Randall, of course, has not been charged with sex trafficking himself. His charge is negligence.
Sen. Rob Portman’s office has been contacted by Randall supporters. The senator’s team is pursuing diplomatic action with the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines but haven’t accomplished much.
“When our staff spoke with the Ambassador in Washington, he pledged to look into the situation, and we will continue to press for more information from his staff and our Embassy in Manila,” Portman’s deputy press secretatry Michael Haidet told the Record-Courier on January 17. “We do not know all of the details of the situation, but are proceeding with the information that has been presented to us as we further investigate Mr. Randall’s detainment.”
When Scene followed up on January 24, Haidet could only say that Portman’s office was “continuing to work all diplomatic channels.”
The bigger political and criminal picture is complicated, and (most likely) really unlucky for Tom Randall. Turns out the Philippines is under intense scrutiny after a UK-led multinational task force busted a massive cybersex trafficking ring earlier this month. According to the BBC, more than 700 suspects are being investigated in conjunction with that case, code named “Operation Endeavor” after the fashion of organized crime task forces all over the globe.
A report by the UK’s National Crime Agency diagnosed “extreme poverty, the increasing availability of high-speed internet and the existence of a vast and comparatively wealthy overseas customer base” as primary factors in the increasing exploitation of children by organized crime groups and others in the Philippines. In many instances, the report found — and here it gets really awful — children’s family members were paid for sexual abuse documented via webcam and streamed live overseas.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency have not responded to requests for comment, so it’s unknown whether or not the Sankey Samaritan Orphanage has been linked to that ongoing investigation.
A Facebook update from Karen Randall, who’s currently with her husband in the Philippines and visits him daily, indicates that Randall’s hearing likely won’t be until January 29, but that — in more cheerful news — Monday morning he made 33 consecutive free throws in the small basketball court adjacent to his holding cell where he’s been permitted to exercise.
This article appears in Jan 29 – Feb 4, 2014.
There doesn’t seem to be much doubt that these kids have been sexually abused, but it’s less clear in what way Mr. Randall could have been negligent. Tragic story in any event.
Seriously, Christ Community Chapel is a new-age church!? Where on earth did you get that information?
It’s hard to take the rest of your article seriously when your first sentence is so off base.
According to Nevil Drury’s book, The New Age: Searching for the Spiritual Self, “the New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as “drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational psychology, holistic health, parapsychology, consciousness research and quantum physics”.
Christ Community Chapel is a non-denominational Bible based church. If you look at their statement of faith, posted on their website, you will see it reflects sound Biblical doctrine. Our building and some of our newer worship songs sung in our celebration services may seem modern. However, our beliefs are time tested and as old as the hills.
I think you missed the point if the article, Keats5. Did you even read it?
Look at how mad the “new age” classification made Keats5! This is a perfect example of how someone protects their beloved institutions to the point that they don’t take an article of something serious like child rape seriously. You dont want to look like one of those PSU fans who protested the firing of Joe Pa, so have some restraint when sharing your opinions.
Hey Keats, there are tons of articles written about Jerry Sandusky’s rape charges prior to his conviction. Find one which calls Penn State a “Big12” conference school and give the author a peice of your mind.
@keats what is “sound biblical doctrine?”
Yes all of the haters are having a field day. So since the article is about child rape, that means Scene can do negligent reporting and call a church “new-age” when it is not. It is about as normal as a Protestant church gets. People like BZCle that know nothing about theology may not be able to understand this. I don’t go to the church but I have some familiarity with it. Stop saying that people can’t be upset about misreporting. That is stupid. As for as the pastor goes, what’s the point of speculating until the trial and more information comes out? We’ll see what happens.
Madeline, Joe Mauk had told Tom Randall about the reports of abuse being made. Tom Randall discredited Joe Mauk’s report to him by saying that Joe was a “rival missionary”.
Very well written article. The church should ashamed of the way they have approached this tragedy.
Yes, I read the article. Yes, I care about this serious case. Of course I care about the children.
I’ve been following this case closely, and care very much. In addition, our church is under a spot-light and because of that, accuracy in reporting about that is also pertinent. I am sorry if I came off as uncaring. This church is my family. I’ve been a member for years. We raised our children here and have grown to love the members and especially the leadership. For those of you who have a close church home, perhaps you’ll understand and excuse my passion.
Here’s some more pertinent information. Obviously there will be those who disagree, so I will limit my comments to things that can be proven on paper as opposed to mere opinions.
Tom Randall has not been charged with anything. They are looking into possible neglect. People want to point fingers at a time like this.
However, Tom Randall may not be the one to charge with neglect for two reasons: 1) he doesn’t run the orphanage; and 2) he immediately took what action he could from Ohio.
People in the Philippines run this orphanage. Randall lives here in Ohio. Tom Randall does indeed have a history with the orphanage. He raised funds and organized it’s building back in the 70s. He is respected for that and still offers his services of advice and helps raise funds. He visits the kids at Christmas time every year. For that reason, he was in the orphanage when it was raided.
I’ve read many allegations in news commentaries about how Randall was informed of these allegations and did nothing. First, why don’t the people who know about these allegations not just pick up the phone and report them? Why do they need a middleman from Ohio, who is in no position to check the veracity of the claims, to report them?
Second, even though Randall doesn’t run the orphanage and was in Ohio, he did what he could. He called the orphanage and first ensured the safety of the children. He also travelled to the Philippines and advised the directors to involve the authorities, which they did. Perhaps the people making these charges do not realize all Randall did after hearing of the allegations, but he did act. In fact, when Randall was taken into custody, he was at the time still cooperating with the investigation. As I understand, the authorities were not looking for Randall at all that night, but he happened to be there and was taken with the rest.
There are two intrinsic themes in the horrifying allegations of abuse in the Sankey Samaritan Orphanage which are very similar to the 100 years history of missionary boarding schools funded and staffed by North Americans. The first is the lack of Child Protection Policies which meet both North American and Pilipino standards. The second is a terrible disregard on the part of American funders that children in settings outside of North America deserve to be listened to and protected to the same standard as children living within their own communities.
You said that Tom Randall “raised funds and organized its building back in the 70s. He is respected for that and still offers his services of advice and helps raise funds. He visits the kids at Christmas time every year”. A part of his responsibility as a founder and trusted advisor was to ensure the safety and protection of the children, which includes both having Child Safety and Protection Policies and ensuring they are being adhered to. His yearly trips at Christmas were for what? To play with the kids? He appears to be a playful teddy bear of a man when what the children needed was a knowledgeable, wise leader to assist in ensuring their safety and well-being.
Beverly Shellrude Thompson
MKSafetyNet, President emeritus
Tom Randall has been cleared of all charges. Please update your story. Thank you.
Christ Community Chapel is not new age. It’s nondenominational. HUGE DIFFERENCE. That you can’t get the facts of the story correct in the first sentence – now I doubt the truth of any and/or all of the reporting in this article.
Lambasting or ridiculing Keats5 for wanting the incorrectness of the article to be known is immature and ignorant. Do you want to read truths, or do you want to believe what you choose to believe regardless of facts? The issue of the first sentence being wrong speaks to the validity of any of the article. Wanting to set the record straight does not speak to anyone’s desire to ignore the actual issue at hand.
Mauk states that rape in the orphanage is most definitely a fact – really? As of today, Pastor Tom is freed from prison and cleared of all charges – clearly no evidence to back that accusation.
Christ Community Chapel strongly supports the efforts of those organizations – such as Destiny Rescue – which are fighting every day to rescue girls out if the sex trafficking industry. Millions of dollars and millions of man hours have been given and spent on missions and outreach.
So, yeah. We get miffed when you tell half truths about us and our members or pastors. The truth today is – Tom Randall could not be held or charged for lack of evidence.
And Beverly Thompson would do her credibility some good to get her story straight as well. Tom Randall is a big goofy teddy bear. Tom Randall is also one of the smartest and most involved presidents of a philanthropic organization you will ever find or have the privilege to meet. This man rode coast to coast on a bike to earn $20,000 for this orphanage. By the end of the ride, he learned he had actually amassed almost one million dollars in pledges from people who love him and love the Philippine people and their orphans. Tom was able to build more schools and fund more projects than he had ever dared to dream.
So, yeah – it does upset us when you get the facts wrong. Because a man’s reputation matters.
Ugh, what a mess. There is no guarantee when you go abroad, things like this happen more than you’d like to believe.
Have posted this in the other article but will do so here as well:
Checked out Randalls newest post on FB…..in it he actually admits to being on the Interpol Blacklist, being previously detained during his last trip, as well as enlisting the help of high-level Philippine officials so that he could travel freely while visiting the very kids (now young adults) he allowed to experience such devastating abuse. The Philippine judicial system has never dropped the case of the Sankey Samaritan Home for Children and the rampant sexual abuse instigated by the home administrator Toto Luchavez, Randalls right-hand man for years, and Toto’s son, Jake (Toto is shown in the current pics on FB during this Nov-Dec 2017 visit with Randall). Nor has the DSDW (Philippine social services) dropped the case as they do not comment on open cases. Thus, why there is no comment from them. This is still alive, folks.
And yes…..follow that money.