Former Pitcairn mayor found guilty over child abuse images, Kenya child abuse: US ex-missionary gets 40yrs'

Former Pitcairn mayor found guilty over child abuse images
Michael Warren, who downloaded more than 1000 images of child abuse while working in child protection, will serve his sentence on the tiny Pacific island
Eleanor Ainge Roy in Dunedin  Monday 7 March 2016 

The former mayor of Pitcairn Island has been sentenced to 20-months in prison after he was convicted of possessing more than 1000 images and videos depicting child pornography.

The tiny British territory in the South Pacific, which has a population of around 50 people, gained international notoriety in 2004 when seven of the island’s 12 men were accused of a total of 55 sex crimes, some dating back 40 years.

According to crown prosecutor Kieran Raferty, former mayor Michael Warren - who served as the island’s mayor from 2008 to 2013 - began downloading images of child abuse in 2004.

During the years Warren downloaded the images he was working in child protection on the island - and travelling to New Zealand and the United Kingdom in an official capacity for further training in child protection.

Raferty said Warren’s initial defence was that he had downloaded the images because he wanted to understand child pornography after the 2004 sex abuse cases.

Warren has also been found guilty of engaging in an internet “sex chat” with a person purporting to be a 15-year-schoolgirl, and of possessing a video that showed a bound and gagged naked woman....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/former-pitcairn-mayor-found-guilty-over-child-pornography


Kenya child abuse: US ex-missionary gets 40yrs'
2016-03-07 

Oklahoma City - A former missionary convicted of sexually abusing children at an orphanage in Kenya was sentenced on Monday to 40 years in a US prison.

Matthew Lane Durham, 21, had faced up to 30 years on each of four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. He was ordered to pay restitution of $15 863.

Durham asked the court for mercy. "All I wanted was to follow God's plan for me," he told the judge.

Defence attorney Stephen Jones has said Durham plans to appeal. He has described Durham, who was 19 when he was charged, as "an emotionally vulnerable teenager" who was struggling with sexual identity while being a devout Christian.

Prosecutors alleged Durham targeted orphans while volunteering at the Upendo Children's Home in Nairobi between April and June 2014. Durham had served as a volunteer since 2012 at the orphanage, which specialises in caring for neglected children.

Orphanage officials and five of the children travelled from Kenya to testify at the trial.

Prosecutors asked that Durham be placed under supervision for the rest of his life in the event he is ever released from prison.

"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....
http://www.news24.com/World/News/kenya-child-abuse-us-ex-missionary-gets-40yrs-20160307