The New York herald., 1921-01-05
DECEPTION Is CHARGED
Letters Show He Placed H.
licit Love Affair on Re-
ligiOus Basis.
$4,000 BALM Is SOUGHT
Says He Put Ring on Her Fin
GER and Pronounced Her
Welded Before God.

Miss Trina Hannenberg of Passaic,
( n. j.. who eloped on November 12 with
the Rev Cornelius Densel, at that time
pastor of the First Netherlands Re-
/ formed Church of Passaic, and re-
turned home with him on December s,
filed yesterday in the Supreme Court
at Paterson a suit for $3.50 damages
against the minister, alleging fraud
in that he had DETAINED her character
and deceived her with repeated prom
ises of marriage.
A civil warrant was then served
upon the preacher and he was taken
before Peter j. McGinnis, Supreme
Court Commissioner, and placed under
81, 800 bond to prevent him leaving the
State. The cash bond was furnished
by. the Rev. Densel himself.
According to the filed complaint, the
Rev. Depsel, who recently went before
wept and asked forgiveness and re-
! instatement, lived with Miss Hannen-
berg in hotels in Buffalo, Niagara Falls.
| Toronto and other cities. The girl al
leges that he put a wedding ring on her
I finger and said to her:
I'VE are married before God
He told her, the complaint alleges,
that the civil ceremony to supplement
the one before God would be performed
as soon as lie could get divorce from
his wife, which he expected would re-
| quire about two weeks from the time
they left Passaic.
Ended Affair in This City.
The first statement regarding the af-
fair by either the girl or the preacher
was made yesterday by Miss Hannen
berg at the office of her attorneys,
Weinberger & Weinberger, in Passaic.
She said
Dominic Densel gave me a ring, a
wedding ring. on September 20. He
told me at that time that | was mar
ried to him before God. that he was
getting a divorce from his wife. who.
he. said, was no more to him than the
mother of his children,s He told me
that if took the ring Off my finger
would break Gods law.
1--WE went to Buffalo on November l2
and stopped at the Hotel Mcleod from
! Saturday until Monday morning, and
we also spent one night at the Hotel
Iroquols. We lived there as man and
wife.
''He told me his son Richard would
mail the divorce papers to him. Finally
he said that II came back to New York
with him he would get the divorce pa
pers and also $4,000. He said he wanted
to meet Richard. / told him I would
not face his son unless we had mar
riage certificate.
"On December we went to New York
and stayed at the Hotel Athens. There
we met Richard.
"The minister said TO me: We'll, Trina.
| I'll have to break with you Then he
took my ring away from me.
! al cried and 1 told him No. I can
not break with you. You took me away.
| will not leave you. You told me we
were married before God.
"Then Richard said to me: Trina, go
home. Your father will take you back
with love And then we came home
That's all there is to It,"
According to Miss Hannenberg. she
and the Rev. Densel registered as MIR.
and Mrs. Tensel, and had their pictures
taken together. both in Buffalo and in
| New York.
Joseph ]. weinberger. one of the at
torneys for Miss Hannenberg. said last
night that the girl had told him that the
Rev Densel first attempted to become
familiar with her seven years ago, when
she was 49, during n summer when she
was helping Mrs. Densel in her house
work But she became offened and left
the Densel home and told her mother
what had happened. The. preacher, ac-
cording to the attorney. did not molest
the girl again until last summer, when
they became intimate during campaign
to purchase new organ for the pas
| tors church.