Police arrest man in connection with molestation at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral

Police have arrested a man suspected of molesting a boy in the Lady of Lourdes Cathedral in downtown Spokane where he hid inside a bathroom where the attack occurred.

The incident occurred on June 30 during a vacation Bible school that had about 60 children in attendance and 10 volunteers. The suspect, 65-year-old Lenny Luck, had entered the building during morning Mass and spent multiple hours in the bathroom leading up to the incident. Police were called, and Luck was apprehended that same day.

Luck was described as homeless in court documents, with no affiliation with the church.

The cathedral’s rector, the Rev. Darrin Connall, said church leaders were saddened by the incident and were reviewing security measures that already include cameras and patrols.

Due to the intrusion, the cathedral is investing in keypads to limit access to the bathrooms. Connall lamented their necessity.

“Who would have thought that in this day and age a church would need to do this?” he said.

The 4-year-old boy’s mother told police she had taken her son to the bathroom in the basement of the cathedral at about 9 a.m.

About 15 to 20 minutes after exiting the bathroom, the boy told his mom that a man had touched him inappropriately.

Security footage was cited as integral to police efforts in identifying and apprehending Luck. He is jailed and has been accused in court of child molestation.

Spokane police spokeswoman Julie Humphreys sought to ease public fear about strangers molesting children. Of the 850 cases of child molestation in the last six years in the city, 3% were committed by a stranger, she said.

“One molestation is too many,” she said, but she acknowledged that even with increased resources, it isn’t physically possible to prevent every single incident from occurring. “The unfortunate truth is that it is going to happen.”