The breakup of an alleged child sexual abuse network with a Hellertown connection was announced Sunday by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who at the conclusion of an investigation that’s spanned multiple counties and states called the information that has been uncovered so far “horrendous,” according to a news release form Shapiro’s office.
The allegations are against five men authorities say were involved in the abuse of a boy who lived in a Hellertown apartment with his grandmother from 2005 to 2009, which is when some of the abuse is alleged to have occurred at a home in upper Bucks County by a man who dressed up as an animal for sexual gratification.
Police say a man named David R. Parker was the first man to abuse the boy, and later introduced him to other men, including a friend who dressed as a “furry” named “Lupine” who allegedly abused him on numerous occasions while dressed in a red fox costume. Dressing up as an animal, also known as furry fandom, is a sexual fetish for some but not all people.
Kenneth C. Fenske
The man who allegedly dressed as the fox and abused the boy is named Kenneth C. Fenske, 57, of 2724 Old North Bethlehem Pike, Milford Township, and he was arrested Friday on multiple first-degree felony charges of child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and unlawful contact with a minor, Shapiro said in the news release.
Fenske was arraigned before District Judge Charles W. Baum of Perkasie and committed to Bucks County Prison in lieu of $750,000 bail, court papers say.
According to an affidavit of probable cause filed Friday in magisterial district court 07-2-03 in Perkasie, the investigation into the abuse of the boy began in June 2016 when a man named Jeffery Harvey, 40, of West Wyoming, Lycoming County, was arrested by PA Office of the Attorney General agents “after he arrived to meet who he thought was a 13-year-old child for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts.”
Jeffery Harvey
Harvey has been charged in Lackawanna County with unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a cell phone, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and statutory sexual assault, acccording to the Attorney General’s news release.
In a post-arrest interview, authorities said in the affidavit Harvey “disclosed that he had been texting with a male known as David R. Parker regarding meeting David R. Parker and a 14 year old male”–identified by police as Child Victim 1–“to engage in sexual contact.”
Police said Harvey consented to a search of his cell phone, which allegedly led to the discovery of graphic text messages from Parker dating back to November 2015; messages in which police said the two exchanged sexual fantasies involving sexual abuse of the boy. For example, police said Harvey allegedly told Parker he wanted to see Parker and the boy naked, and suggested they alternate performing oral sex on each other.
David R. Parker
Parker, 38, of Stroudsburg, Monroe County, was taken into custody by police on June 29, 2016 and revealed deeply disturbing information, according to the court documents. He is charged with child rape and related counts, including possession of child pornography.
According to police, Parker said he had been “sexually interested in young boys” for the past decade or so, and began to abuse Child Victim 1 when he was 2 or 3, allegedly masturbating him and trying to perform oral sex on him. When he was nine, Parker said he performed oral sex on men in front of the boy, police said.
Shortly after Parker was arrested, the affidavit indicates Child Victim 1 and his mother were forensically interviewed at The Child Advocacy Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
At that interview, the child reportedly told police Parker had sexually abused him while he lived in Schuylkill County and also at “various homes and apartments in different locations” where other adults were present. Sometimes Parker had sexual contact with the other adults in front of the child, and sometimes the other adults touched the child victim “in a sexual way” the boy later revealed, the affidavit says.
It wasn’t until an interview on Jan. 20 of this year, however, that the boy revealed the information about Fenske to a special agent from the AG office’s Bureau of Special Investigations unit, the affidavit says.
“Child Victim 1 stated that during 2009…David R. Parker would take him to a friend’s house to play the ‘Xbox rock band game,'” it states. “He stated the friend’s name was ‘Ken Fenske’ and that at times Fenske would dress up in an animal costume.”
The boy described Fenske’s furry outfit in great detail and said it included “paw gloves” and a fox head that could come off “‘like a hat,'” the affidavit says, adding that the boy said he would “‘hang out dressed as tony the tiger'” at parties at Fenske’s house.
During those parties Fenske is alleged to have taken the boy to a room in his house and raped him. The affidavit includes graphic descriptions of what is alleged to have occurred.
Fenske was positively identified by the boy in two separate photo lineups, and the boy’s grandmother told authorities that while she and the boy were living several apartments over from Parker in Hellertown between 2005 and 2009, “David R. Parker associated with a ‘furry’ friend, who dressed like a fox, and went by the name of ‘Lupine,'” the affidavit states. “Child Victim 1’s grandmother stated ‘Lupine’s’ real name is Kenneth Fenske.”
The grandmother also reportedly told authorities she later learned Parker would attend “‘furry parties’ where adults would dress as animals” during that time.
“Through excellent police work and close cooperation among agents from our office, the Bucks County DA’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police and other agencies, these child sexual predators are off our streets,” Shapiro said in the news release. “The victim is receiving appropriate care, and today we’re asking the public for help in finding and identifying more potential victims.”
Also arrested and identified in connection with the abuse syndicate, according to the release, are:
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Craig Knox, who police say was arrested and charged with sexual offenses in Virginia. He has been extradited to Pennsylvania and is currently being held in Luzerne County.
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Stephen Taylor, who was also arrested in Virginia in connection with the case.
Shapiro stressed that this case is “active and ongoing,” and said the boy who is at the center of it is “now in foster care, receiving therapy, with a guardian ad litem.”
“This is a horrendous case,” Shapiro said. “It is deeply disturbing to me not only as Attorney General of Pennsylvania, but as a father of young children.”
“Our investigation is not done, and it is likely there will be more arrests,” he stressed. “We believe it is likely there could be more victims out there from this ring of abuse. We want to help them and protect them from any further abuse. We’re seeking the public’s help today and asking people to come forward and speak with our Office or the Bucks DA’s Office if they know anything.”
The Office of Attorney General has a tip line and is asking the public to call 1-800-385-1044. Anonymous tips can also be made at www.attorneygeneral.gov.
