A Houston restaurant was immediately shut down after one of its cooks was reportedly caught on camera putting his genitals into open food items.
Further investigation revealed that the former employee possessed over 100 images and five videos of child pornography on his cellphone.
He has since been identified as 27-year-old Othello Larenzo Holmes, who has now been charged with five counts of possession of child pornography and indecent assault.
According to a KPRC-TV report, on April 4, Harris County deputies arrived at the restaurant, Kulture, and saw surveillance video from the manager allegedly showing Holmes placing his genitals on food items.
Holmes reportedly confessed to putting his genitals in jelly, stating “he had a sexual urge, however, he stopped himself before he ejaculated”, the report said, adding that it was not clear if it was Holmes’ first time allegedly contaminating the food with his genitals.
He also admitted to having these urges frequently and has a history of sexual offences, KPRC-TV reported.
Following the incident, the restaurant was immediately shut down and Holmes was fired.
A statement from the restaurant, obtained by KPRC-TV, revealed that the space has since been cleaned, inventory discarded and other measures implemented to prevent a recurrence of the situation.
“Two weeks ago, we learned that one of our employees had engaged in an unacceptable act contrary to our code of conduct and outside of his employment he was involved in reprehensible illegal activities, of which we were not aware,” the statement said.
“We took immediate action by shutting down our establishment, cleaning the entire space, discarding all existing inventory, and contacting the police to have the employee arrested immediately. Additionally, we worked with our security team to enhance our camera systems. These actions were implemented within one hour of the incident being brought to our attention, ensuring that the matter was addressed before the business opened again.
The employee has been terminated, and we have taken all necessary steps to restore our normal services to the public. We strongly believe this is an isolated incident resulting from retaliatory measures due to a demotion. Most importantly, this dangerous paedophile is off the streets,” it added.
Holmes was subsequently charged with indecent assault and the investigation expanded further.
On April 15, Holmes gave written consent to the forensic analysis of his cellphone which reportedly revealed over 100 images and five videos of child pornography with children between the ages of infancy and teens engaged in sexual intercourse and various sexual acts.
