Kenneth Fenske has been acquitted of charges he raped an eight-year-old boy during ‘furry meets’ at his home in 2009
Jurors in suburban Philadelphia have acquitted a man of all charges in a case in which he and others were accused of assaulting a boy at parties for people dressed in animal costumes.
The Bucks County panel deliberated for about two hours Friday before acquitting 57-year-old Kenneth Fenske of Quakertown.
Prosecutors alleged that the boy was abused at ‘furry’ parties in the county beginning in 2009.
The boy, who was eight at the time, says he was forced to dress as Tony the Tiger and his attacker sometimes wore a full-body fox costume.
Fenske’s attorney called the charges an attempt to profit off his client’s wealth.
‘I’m just happy for Mr. Fenske that he was vindicated by the jury,’ said Fenske’s defense attorney Steven Fairlie. ‘He’s maintained his innocence throughout and obviously the jury believed him.’
According to the Bucks County Courier Times Fairlie had argued in court that the alleged victim’s testimony should be dismissed and pointed to inconsistencies and an ‘unnatural smile’ and a demeanor that lacked a ‘ring of truth.’
Furries are people who dress up as animals and identify as the chosen animal, often as a sexual fetish.
Authorities said the case began with the arrest of Jeffrey A. Harvey, 40,(left) in summer 2016 on charges he tried to have sex with someone online that he thought was a 13-year-old boy. Craig M. Knox, 36, (right) is also charged with sexual offences
Three other men and a woman are still awaiting trial in the case. Another man pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking and is awaiting sentencing.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro has said the boy was abused for nearly eight years, starting in 2009.
Authorities said the case began with the arrest of Jeffrey A. Harvey, 40, of West Wyoming, Pennsylvania, in summer 2016.
Harvey was charged for trying to have sex with someone online that he thought was a 13-year-old boy, but was in fact an undercover investigator.
After he was caught, detectives found text messages he exchanged with Parker where they discussed Harvey wanting to have sex with the sex trafficked young boy forced to dress in the tiger costume.
Parker was arrested the next day. Police said Parker admitted he sexually fondled the boy when he was one to three years old.
The boy told investigators Parker molested him on multiple occasions in Schuylkill County before he was age 13 and, according to a search warrant affidavit, ‘would take him to homes or apartments where… other adults would touch (him) in a sexual way.’
Stephen Taylor (left) and Paige Tasker (right) are also charged over the sex assaults
The victim sayid he was forced to dress as ‘Tony the Tiger’ at parties before being attacked (stock image)
The boy told investigators in October that Craig Michael Knox, 35, of Henrico, Virginia, had molested him at a home in Pittston.
Knox told investigators that Parker encouraged him to ‘have at it’ with the boy, and that he sexually abused the child in an upstairs bedroom. He said Parker also forced the child to perform a sexual act, according to police.
‘Knox stated that during this time the victim appeared embarrassed and looked at the floor as he did what he was instructed to do,’ police wrote. Knox was charged last November.
The teen said his parents were present at the parties but had no idea about the assaults.
He only opened up about the horrific incidents last year.
Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro has said he was dedicated to bringing the suspects to justice
‘I kept it to myself,’ the boy testified, according to Philly.com. ‘I didn’t tell anyone.’
Stephen Taylor, Knox’s roommate, is also charged over the crimes, and has also admitted bestiality and cruelty to animals after sexually abusing two Rottweilers.
Paige Tasker, 28, of Stroudsburg, is charged with statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of minors.
The victim is now is in foster care and has been receiving therapy.