A court in the US state of Oklahoma has sentenced a former American missionary for sexually abusing children at an orphanage in the East African country of Kenya.
According to the account of the story presented before the court, in 2014, 21-year-old Matthew Lane Durham volunteered as a Christian charity worker with the Upendo Children’s Home in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Earlier, Durham had served as a volunteer in 2012 at the same orphanage, which specializes in caring for neglected children.
While working at the home, Durham took advantage of the vulnerability of the children and had sex with about 10 of them. The children are said to be as young as four years of age. Durham committed this heinous act between April and June 2014.
Reportedly, Durham was caught by some of his colleagues. When he was questioned, he denied engaging in any sexual activities with the children.
He thereafter fled Kenya to the United States, but was later pursued and arrested with the help of the International Police, to stand trial for his crime.
His trial started in 2015. In June, a 12-member jury convicted Durham on seven counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. This was after five of the abused children travelled from Kenya, along with orphanage officials, to testify at Mr Durham’s trial. The public, including reporters, were barred from witnessing proceedings in the courtroom during the children’s testimony. This was done to protect the identity of the children.
In a sentencing memorandum cited by the Chicago Tribune, federal prosecutors asked the court to sentence Durham to 120 years in prison, which is the maximum punishment for the crime he committed. Prosecutors also asked that Durham be placed under supervision for the rest of his life in the event he is ever released from prison.
“The defendant’s offenses were undoubtedly serious. He raped or sexually molested by force or threat four children ranging in ages from 5 years to 14 years — some multiple times — in a span of just 33 days,” prosecutors wrote in the memo.
According to prosecutors again, Durham’s actions have had a chilling effect on the lives of dozens of foreign volunteers in Kenya, and elsewhere, who must now live under the cloud of suspicion, distrust and apprehension when they volunteer their time, talent and resources for the betterment of children in East Africa and beyond.
Prosecutors said “There is a real perception among Upendo’s local Kenyan community that more pedophiles lurk among the volunteers, especially the young male volunteers.”
However, on March 7, 2016, District Judge, David L. Russell sentenced Durham to 40 years in jail, ordering him to pay restitution of $15,863 to the children. “These were heinous crimes committed on the most vulnerable victims. He was their worst nightmare come true,” Judge Russell said during his ruling.
Defense attorney for Durham, Stephen Jones said after the ruling that Durham plans to appeal his sentence. Jones had argued in court that Durham, who was 19 when he was arrested in 2014, was an emotionally vulnerable teenager who was struggling with sexual identity and development. He said Durham is a devout Christian.
According to the BBC, last year, a UK charity boss, Simon Harris, was jailed for more than 17 years by a UK court for abusing street children between 1996 and 2013 in the agricultural town of Gilgil, in Kenya’s Rift Valley.
Just last week also, British Airways agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to children who were sexually abused by one of its pilots, Simon Wood, in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Wood committed suicide in 2013 when his crimes were uncovered.
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It’s a shame to see this nice guy who is obviously loved by his kids. Humans are so immature to understand kids are sexual beings too. A wise man once said: It takes a very long time to become young.
Hello Mr Kiddy Diddler!
Why are pedos the worst narcissists on this planet? Why do pedos rationalize others/their abuse?(like you’re doing)
Your lack of empathy is telling. What a disgusting piece of crap you are.
Please reflect your self-talk/soliloquy and suggestive question/leading question before talking with higher level people like me.
“He raped or sexually molested by force or threat four children.” Not a nice guy at all. A brute. A thug.
He will get his bitch ass shivved real good where he is going
And this guy above is the best example of the sick society.
Maybe this was the fantasy of the judges and the prosecutors. He denied any sexual activities with the children and plans to appeal. Show me any proof of this allegations. For me as an keen observer of human nature he does not look like nice as fuck!
*he does I mean, to not use any of your for whatever reason used language words.
Daniel I think you are delusional and colluding with a perpetrator and I have no doubt given your interest in seeing this man go free that you have a vested interest in seeing that happen. From recollection of the courses I have taken, perpetrators in this regard do so from a position of power, are charming and narcissistic and believe themselves better than the people around them. That Daniel strikes me as being modelling for your own behaviour. By the way it is a rather large risk to take don’t you think on the part of the alleged victims ? For the accused caught flagrante delicto in the act of sexual penetration of a child – the orphanage informs no doubt, their local Police before informing Interpol. He is pursued and tracked back to his home state, Interpol inform the local Police and he is arrested. (All of these authorities each have to be convinced that criminal action is justified and the action worthwhile) Thence arraigned he is brought to court for criminal proceedings and the witnesses are transported along with their support staff to the US and brought in to give testimony. Etc etc etc So it seems to me that’s an awful lot of individuals and support staff to give testimony against someone accused of sexual perpetration for it to be naught but a ruse and given the courts findings and the sentence handed down, seems like it was taken very seriously indeed.
We love what we are. If you are a beautiful boy you will love beautiful boys too and they will love you too. That’s how nature works and this is healthy. Just because some ugly unloved people don’t understand this and do things with others who are not doing it voluntarily does not make normal sexual interactions a crime. Ask the children and you will get the verity. I can’t even imagine this because i have a beautiful mind which is for what a lot of people younger and older love me. Stop hurting people like him just because of envy. Also I am sorry for people who have no attraction and can’t love themselves because that’s the reason for a lot of bad things, wars and injustice. There is no greater accomplishment than being loved by children who are true with their love. Don’t tell me I would be narcissistic because I am not. My arrogance is a security against peoples insult in a sick and unhealthy sarcastic unloved society. No human being hurts a child without a reason, so if there something were happened then because society failed to raise this young man to a loving cared person. But for my view, he look like he actually was it. He reached a level only religious people and holy people reach and you normal average people who fail with normal relationships will get the point maybe later or never in life. It’s sad people are so limited.