Former Waianae ministries leader faces sex assault charges

A former president and director of the now-defunct House of Angel Ministries in Waianae was indicted Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting two girls in his care over a span of more than four years.

Thomas M. Couch was indicted Friday by an Oahu grand jury on four counts. He is accused of continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14 and three counts of felony sex assault in the third degree. He was arrested after turning himself in Sunday afternoon at Honolulu Police Department headquarters, 801 S. Beretania St.

Couch remains in custody, and his bail is set at $500,000. He is scheduled to appear Thursday before Judge Christine E. Kuriyama in 1st Circuit Court.

According to the indictment, from Jan. 28, 2016, until June 9, 2020, Couch, who was identified as a “parent or guardian” of the victims, allegedly engaged in three or more “acts of sexual contact” with one of the girls, starting when she was 6 years old and continuing until she was 10, by placing his hand on her genitalia and/or on her buttock.

While identified as parent or guardian of the second girl, Couch allegedly touched her genitalia when she was between the ages of 6 and 8, from June 20, 2010, to June 19, 2012.

A no-contact order is in place against Couch on behalf of the girls and their families. Matthew Dvonch, special counsel to Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm, told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser, “We always encourage survivors of sexual assault to come forward if it is safe for them to do so. Even if survivors do not initially wish to file a police report, there are support services available to help, including Hawaii Pacific Health’s Sex Abuse Treatment Center,” which operates a 24-hour hotline, 808-524-7273.

Incorporated as a nonprofit in October 2002, House of Angel Ministries, 86-064 Alta St., provided food and shelter services for homeless people on the Waianae Coast, according to business records kept by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Couch’s ministries rented a second home for taking in “disadvantaged people” and conducting Bible study sessions, according to the filing.

The nonprofit was involuntarily dissolved by the state after failing to file annual registration forms with the state between 2013 and 2015.

Couch is also listed as vice president and director of Waianae Coast Christian Missions. That nonprofit, which was focused on Christian “ministering” and “providing a palace of worship,” was dissolved in 2006, according to DCCA records.