Former Calvary Chapel youth pastor, Nicholas Henshaw, commits suicide after arrest for child molestation.
Article appears in Dana Pointe Times
By Andrea Papagianis
A former Dana Point youth minister who was arrested in Colorado last month and charged with the sexual assault of a child committed suicide Monday, according to authorities.
Nicholas Henshaw, 35, of Fort Collins, Colo. was found dead in a Loveland, Colo. hotel Monday morning, confirmed Stephen Hanks, a deputy coroner investigator with the Larimer County coroner’s office, who worked the case. His death has been ruled a suicide.
Henshaw’s body was discovered in a Holiday Inn Express south of Fort Collins. Authorities have determined the cause of death was suffocation by way of asphyxiation with helium, Hanks said.
In February, the former youth minister at Capo Beach Calvary Church, now Capo Beach Church, was charged with one count of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, Larimer County court records show. Henshaw was accused of molesting an 8-year-old neighbor. The state of Colorado classifies the crime as a felony.
The accused was out of jail on bail. His next court appearance was set for April 4.
Over the last 18 months, Henshaw was the subject of multiple investigations in Larimer County, said criminal investigator Don Vagge with the Fort Collins Police Department. The most recent led to Henshaw’s arrest.
Henshaw was also the subject of an Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigation in the early 2000s.
Officials looked into suspicions that Henshaw committed lewd and lascivious acts with a child, according to OCSD spokesman Lt. Jeff Hallock. The case was presented to the District Attorney’s Office but no charges were filed due to a lack of evidence, Hallock said. No further details were provided.
Link to full news article here:
http://www.danapointtimes.com/former-dana-point-youth-pastor-accused-on-molestation-commits-suicide/
…and here:
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20140325/NEWS01/303250017
CalvaryChapelAbuse.com Commentary and Opinion:
Sad story. So many kids’ lives affected. I’m torn about the suicide. Part of me is glad Henshaw is dead and will no longer be able to hurt kids…and part of me wishes he’d have gone to prison and got some Prison Justice before he died.
What this story should illustrate is that pedophiles and child molesters seek out positions that put them with kids. Not all youth leaders and youth pastors and youth volunteers and youth helpers are molesters…but all molesters tend to seek out positions as youth workers.
It looks like Henshaw was a Youth Pastor at Calvary Chapel Capo Beach for a couple of years around 2000-2002. I am told by a friend familiar with that church and that situation that once that Calvary Chapel learned that he presented a danger to kids, they canned him….good for them.
Unfortunately, the guy simply moves to another area and molests more kids. There has to be a better way to mark these predators and give the communities they prey on a heads up in the Church System.
At minimum, Churches need to do a better job background checking their youth workers and leaders and not just checking their criminal records…sometimes these guys dodge the law for a long time…but actually calling their previous churches or organizations and asking if there have been any allegations or any investigations regarding child abuse…even if there has yet to be an arrest.