Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Larry Kent Henderson, 85, of Madras, Oregon, has been arrested for sexual battery of a victim under 12 years old in Gainesville in 1997.

Alachua County Sheriff’s Office conducted an interview with the victim on January 17, 2024, and the victim said she was under 10 years old when Henderson, a relative, touched her inappropriately at his Kenwood home.

The victim said Henderson always made “weird comments” about her body and would take pictures of her in a leotard or tell her to swim naked, but she specifically remembered the first time he touched her inappropriately because she had just gotten new Disney character underwear. She said that while the other adults were in other areas of the home, Henderson asked to see what she had on under her dress, and she was afraid she would get in trouble because the person who had bought her the Disney underwear was not supposed to be spending money.

However, the victim said, she lifted her dress, and Henderson pulled her underwear to the side and touched her inappropriately. She said she was confused and moved away from Henderson, and then he exposed himself and asked her if she wanted to “play with it.” She said she ran to another adult and avoided being alone with Henderson after that.

Since that incident, Henderson has been convicted for sexual offenses against children in Oregon, where he currently lives, and he is a registered sexual offender in Oregon. According to documents filed in Alachua County, Henderson was charged with child molestation in Missouri in 1962, but the charge was dismissed. He was charged with attempted rape and attempted sodomy in the state of Washington in 1968, but the resolution of that case is unavailable. Charges of sexual abuse of the second degree, rape in the third degree, and sodomy of the third degree were filed in Oregon in 2004, and he was convicted of rape and sexual abuse. Charges of sexual abuse in the first degree (victim under 12) and sexual abuse in the second degree were filed in Oregon in 2018, and he was convicted of two counts of sexual abuse in the second degree.

Henderson has been charged with one count of sexual battery of a victim under 12. Judge Meshon Rawls ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.