Oklahoma man accused of molesting Kenyan orphans to testify
Source: Associated Press
Oklahoma man accused of molesting Kenyan orphans to testify
| June 17, 2015 | Updated: June 17, 2015 1:54am
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Photo By Sue Ogrocki/AP
Kyle Durham, left, and Melissa Durham, second from left, hold hands as they leave the Federal Courthouse in
Oklahoma City, following another day of testimony in the federal trial of their son, Matthew Lane Durham,
Monday, June 15, 2015. At right are their other two sons, Josh Durham, right, and Zac Durham. Matthew Lane
Durham is accused of 17 counts of sexual misconduct with children in Nairobi, Kenya.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A 20-year-old Oklahoma man accused of sexually abusing children at a Kenyan orphanage is set to testify in his own defense.
Matthew Lane Durham is scheduled to take the stand Wednesday before a 12-member jury. Defense attorney Stephen Jones says Durham and his father, Oklahoma City Fire Department Maj. Kyle Durham, will both testify as the defense prepares to wrap up its case.
Matthew Durham faces 17 counts of sexual misconduct, including aggravated sexual abuse and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. He's pleaded not guilty and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege that Durham molested the children between April and June 2014 while working as a volunteer at the Upendo Children's Home, which cares for neglected children in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Oklahoma-man-accused-of-molesting-Kenyan-orphans-6331849.php
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Faces up to life in prison if convicted.
If you want to run an "orphanage and school" in Kenya, what you can do to easily cover expenses is essentially to run a summer camp for Christian US teenagers who want to give themselves a big pat on the back by doing a "missionary trip".
There are, of course, varying degrees of good intentions in these kinds of "teen mission experience" operations. Some have learned how to get branding revenue. For example, TV preachers will often show pictures of the "Rufus T. Firefly School" in some faraway place and go on about how they need donations to keep it running. In reality, whomever is actually running a school somewhere will be happy to have you show up, get some signs made, and have you take pictures of your beaming face amid a suitable bunch of kids waving Bibles or whatever.
Now, at the end of the day, some kids might get fed and taught some lessons at the end of a very inefficient pipeline, but Rev. Firefly is taking in a whole lot more than is being delivered.
This type of thing has been used to interesting effect by those who play with internet scammers. Basically, on the promise of a pending payday in response to an internet scam email, the scammer can be manipulated into doing interesting things:
