As admitted child predator nears sentencing, police open more cases against psychologist
The mother of one of his patients is calling for accountability.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A Hawaii Island mother is speaking out about her young son’s experience inside Reuben Lelah’s secluded compound after court documents revealed the Kona psychologist confessed to committing sex crimes against multipe underage patients.
To protect her child’s identity, we’re only identifying the woman as K.C.
She’s hoping more will be done to hold the therapist accountable for his crimes.
After being indicted for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old patient, Lelah sent a written confession to Hawaii County prosecutors admitting he’s a child sex predator, court documents show.
Despite being armed with that information, the prosecutor gave Lelah a plea deal that will dramatically reduce the time he’ll spend behind bars.
Meanwhile, officials with the Hawaii Island Police Department just confirmed more cases against the child psychologist have been opened.
“There’s all these worries and fears that come up when you hear about this. That your child was alone in a room for hours on end with this person that’s an admitted pedophile,” K.C. said.
Lelah saw countless children over nearly two decades at his practice, known as The Loving Service Foundation. “He was located up at the top of this mountain on a sprawling campus,” K.C. said. “And there’s these huge buildings that look like it would be set up for a clinic with many doctors. It took me a while to realize, no. He’s the only person on this property.”
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K.C. says she was referred to Lelah back in 2021, by her son’s primary care provider after the boy’s school raised concerns about the way he was acting around other kids.
He was 5 at the time.
“He wanted to see other people’s body parts, or he was trying to peek through the bathroom,” she said, adding she took her son to see Lelah every week for about four months.
She described the therapist as soft spoken and at times unorthodox.
She says during their initial visit, she told Lelah she was worried something may have happened to her child at daycare that was causing him to act out. “Dr. Lelah said, well yes that could be it. But also it could have come from a past life,” the mother told HNN Investigates.
During the sessions, K.C. says, she would sit in the waiting room while Lelah was with her son. Afterwards, “my son would come up and be like mom, I played with this toy,” she said.
K.C. says that looking back, there are things that were strange that at the time she didn’t pick up on. “If my son and him were in the room together working on something, I was supposed to knock on the door and wait for him to come open it,” the mother said.
She added, “There was also like a weird little corner that had like a foam mattress on the ground with tons of stuffed animals.”
K.C. says her son’s behavior improved so she told Lelah he’d no longer need counseling.
That’s when she says things became uncomfortable. “He didn’t want us to stop coming,” she said. “I felt like I had to kind of stand up to him and be like. No, we’re going to stop.”
When HNN asked if she thought Lelah molested her son, she told us, “That’s a difficult question to answer. I do think there were probably things that Dr. Lelah did with my son that were grooming-type behaviors.”
K.C. says she’s dumbfounded by the fact Lelah was offered a plea deal despite his confession.
“Not only did he confess to the initial accusations, but he’s confessed to numerous more and for them to negotiate with him is abhorrent in my opinion,” she said.
Records show the 72-year-old has been free since he bonded out of the Hawaii Community Correctional Center last July as he awaits sentencing later this month. Meanwhile, the state has yet to strip the therapist of his license to practice psychology.
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“This is not OK. We have to hold him accountable,” said K.C.
HNN Investigates reached out to the Hawaii Island Police Department and asked how many sex assault investigations are currently underway involving Lelah.
HNN also wanted to know what they department is doing to actively track down Lelah’s victims.
In a statement a Criminal Investigations Division captain responded, “HPD is continuing the investigation involving Mr. Lelah and other potential victims. Detectives have contacted and are continuing to reach out to victims. Other cases involving Reuben Lelah have been initiated.”
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The captain went on to say, further information about the cases would not be provided out of respect for the victims and their privacy.
The department asks anyone who may be a victim or witness to a crime involving Lelah to contact Detective Scott Dewey at Scott.Dewey@hawaiicounty.gov or (808) 326-4646, ext. 303.
We reached out to Lelah through email for comment on this story, but we have not gotten a response. The psychologist is set to be sentenced May 24.
Initially, he faced 20 years behind bars without the possibility of probation. But because of the plea deal he could serve anywhere between 18 months and 10 years.
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