SARASOTA, Fla. — One week after the founder of a Sarasota church was arrested on charges of capital sexual battery on a child, Sarasota Police say the amount of alleged victims who have come forward has been ticking up.

As of Wednesday, police have interviewed 15 different men who say they were sexually abused by Henry Lee Porter, Sr.

The charges against Porter stem from one victim who told investigators the abuse began in 1989 when he was 11 and his parents were away for an extended hospital stay. He was a student at the elementary school run by the Westcoast Center.

“We were able to have a victim come forward and testify, but up until this case we didn’t have enough evidence to be able to bring any charges forward and take it to the state attorney’s office to provide charges,” explained Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino.

Police say all of the victims were boys between 11 and 19 years old when the alleged abuse began.

Porter has been on investigators' radar for decades. They looked into allegations of sexual abuse in 1990, and launched a second investigation in the early 2000s. Police say the statute of limitations prevented any charges from being filed in those cases.

“It’s a church. We can’t just go in and make accusations against individuals who have a standing in an organization without having facts,” said DiPino when asked if police could have done anything to protect the children who attended the church.

Lifelong resident Fredd Atkins wasn’t surprised to hear about Porter’s arrest.

“This story has been running around this community for 40 to 50 years with this man,” he said. “There’s a lot of people around here that are burned by this. Outside of here, too. It’s not a local secret. This is international — this man has been all over the world.”

Police say Porter’s son took over operating the Westcoast Center in 2016, but Porter was still highly involved. He led his last church service roughly two months ago.

Police believe there may be more victims out there. They’re asking anyone who is willing to come forward and speak with Investigator Jeff Birdwall by calling (941) 263-6028.