Missionary Found Guilty Of Raping Children In Kenya

[Aine]

Just stumbled upon this article:

http://ktla.com/2016/03/07/oklahoma-missionary-accused-of-raping-children-at-african-orphanage-sentenced-to-40-years-in-prison/

Matthew Durham, a 21 year old Oklahoma native, went on a missionary trip to Kenya to work at an orphanage and has been found guilty of raping three young girls up to eight times and molesting a 12 year old boy twice in his first 33 days there. He's been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In this case, it was 'lucky' (as much as anything can be in this situation) that there were other workers there who were pretty observant with his behaviour and changes in the children's behaviour by the sounds of it. I really wonder how often this sort of things happen with these foreign missionaries who go to Africa and work with children with very little oversight.

 

[nobleandstrong]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oklahoma-missionary-sentenced-for-sexual-assaulting-kenyan-orphans_us_56df0defe4b03a40567a3df2

This is the HuffPost article about his sentencing.

[gustava]

Wish he'd had to serve it in Kenya.

[Fundie Bunny]

8 minutes ago, gustava said:

Wish he'd had to serve it in Kenya.

Better if he served them in thailand. I would say north korea, but he is human and deserves at least food

[samira_catlover]

*desperately wants to send several hundred tons of coal to HellFire Down Below, to help out a little*

CANNOT. EVEN. THINK. does not cover this level of evil.  Nothing like raping children frequently to show the love of God working within you, to change hearts and minds.. 

(snipped from HuffPo): Durham testified that he thought he was possessed by a demon named Luke who did "horrible things," and said he struggled with his sexuality. 

"All I wanted was to follow God’s plan for me," he told the courtroom on Monday. "In the end, it is the judgment of God that is central, not the judgment of man. I do not fear God's judgment of me." (endsnip)

"The Devil made me do it!"---uhhhh, RIGHT.  I hope that local OK authorities are checking their records to see if there were prior offenses within their jurisdiction.

Wonder if he's ever read the Christian gospels, with special emphases on Matt. 18:5-6, Mark 9:36-37, Luke 9:47-48.

I believe in a compassionate and loving Deity who is extremely patient with Her Silly Children, but I would truly tremble to be in this guy's shoes come Judgment Day.

[Cleopatra7]

I think that these evangelical institutions in Africa that have poorly trained and poorly vetted staff are a gigantic scandal waiting to happen. The only reason why the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church could be uncovered is because it keeps so many records, often in centralized locations. It allowed the Spotlight team to realize that it wasn't just a couple of pervy outliers but an organized cover-up. However, most evangelical churches have much looser organizational structures and spotty paper trails, which makes it easy for a predator to go from church to church without anyone suspecting a thing. The children being served by these institutions are the poorest of the poor, and probably feel like they have to put up with abuse or be put out to beg on the streets. It's a terrible situation to have to face.

[Mercer]

"In the end, it is the judgment of God that is central, not the judgment of man. I do not fear God's judgment of me."

"It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Luke 17:2 (KJV)

Might want to rethink that, dude...

 

[Jingerbread]

He doesn't deserve to breathe.  He better hope he's in solitary confinement.  Even hardened criminals don't put up with child-fuckers.  Kill a kid?  You're an asshole.  Fuck a kid?  That's across the prison line, and you've now got a target on your asshole.  I can't summon up even a drop of pity for that guy.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

So did he become a missionary because he ultimately wanted to prey on children or did he believe he could keep his demons under control and thought doing doing God's work would make him pure?  I know it doesn't really matter but what a horrifying event for all-- his victims, his family, his supporters. 40 years in prison is barely enough but I don't believe in torture so I guess it will have to do.  I hope the children can heal and move on with their lives.

[EmmieJ]

1 hour ago, samira_catlover said:

"All I wanted was to follow God’s plan for me," he told the courtroom on Monday. "In the end, it is the judgment of God that is central, not the judgment of man. I do not fear God's judgment of me." (endsnip)

"The Devil made me do it!"---uhhhh, RIGHT.  I hope that local OK authorities are checking their records to see if there were prior offenses within their jurisdiction

I would bet a lot of money that this is not the first time this guy has sexually assaulted children.  Either he does not believe there is a god, which is why he doesn't fear god's judgment, or he's full on lying/in denial.  This is another reason I am wary of missionaries - because I don't think they are properly vetted before being sent out in the field.  It's probably very appealing to sexual predators.

[Aine]

2 minutes ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

So did he become a missionary because he ultimately wanted to prey on children or did he believe he could keep his demons under control and thought doing doing God's work would make him pure?  I know it doesn't really matter but what a horrifying event for all-- his victims, his family, his supporters. 40 years in prison is barely enough but I don't believe in torture so I guess it will have to do.  I hope the children can heal and move on with their lives.

Considering he was only in the country for just over a month and managed all that damage, he either had terrible control of his 'demons' and in that case, I'd bet there are victims in the US, or the more likely scenario considering no victims have been reported here is that he planned it  

In which case, he's an especially evil dude. It squicks me out that someone is capable of planning it (potentially) all the while taking money from friends and family and their fellow church-goers who give in good faith. 

[Mercer]

3 minutes ago, Handmaiden of Dog said:

So did he become a missionary because he ultimately wanted to prey on children or did he believe he could keep his demons under control and thought doing doing God's work would make him pure?

Almost certainly the former, in my opinion. If he was really struggling with his "demons," he would put himself as far from temptation as possible. There are plenty of charity projects where he could work entirely with adults and not children, or even entirely behind the scenes and not directly with clients at all. He may talk a good game about trying to keep his impulses in check, but the bottom line is he gave himself the perfect opportunity to act on them, and I don't think that was an accident.

[Jingerbread]

This reminds me of Jared Fogle, who traveled around the world for the purpose of raping children.

[Inky]

Since it was this third trip there, and he requested to be bunked in the building with the children instead of off-site (as is normal) it looks like he deliberately went there and set himself up in a position to rape these children.

[Grimalkin]

6 hours ago, nobleandstrong said:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oklahoma-missionary-sentenced-for-sexual-assaulting-kenyan-orphans_us_56df0defe4b03a40567a3df2

This is the HuffPost article about his sentencing.

I was following the links in this article, one mentioned he had been going on mission trips since junior high. He also texted a friend about "Luke"

[FundieFarmer]

I was going to say, "I do not fear the judgement of God" indicates a seriously poor understanding of theology. That never would've flown at our church- which is not to say our church is flawless- but is to say that we do at least require basic theological comprehension from our missionaries. I mean...as others have said, that's a pretty big glitch.

This predator strikes me as someone who went for what he would get out of it. A lot of people do that with missionary vacations, but this is definitely the worst story I've ever heard in terms of the disaster they left behind.

Oh, this whole thing makes my heart heart.

[RosyDaisy]

There's a special place in Hell for people like him. I hope he burns there.

[sawasdee]

There have been several scandals in Cambodia,. where volunteers at orphanages have in fact been predators. some have even managed to set up their own orphanages.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-12719598

At least he got a truly punitive sentence in the US, unlike those who have been caught in Cambodia - Nick Griffin spent only two years in prison there.

[Toothfairy]

This is much more common than you think. And fuck his only God judges me shit. 

[nastyhobbitses]

40 years is not enough. I usually support rights for criminals, but in his case, I'll make a very big exception. Give him the Guantanamo treatment. Or Abu Ghraib. I have no sympathy or mercy for child predators.

[foreign fundie]

Think about it. If you were a pedophile, and wanted to abuse children (not saying all pedophiles want to do that, because you can feel sexually attracted to children without being an abuser) what would you do?

You would find a vulnerable child. They certainly exist in the US, but kids do get sex ed at school and schools have people you can talk with confidentially. Chances of conviction are real (although never big enough) and sentences can be brutal. Prison life is hell.

If you take a 'mission trip' do 'voluntary service', work for an NGO or something like that, there are many advantages. 

- You will be put on a pedestal and as a result avoid many critical questions.

-People there won't know you. People that do know you are not around to warn people.

- Odd behaviour often gets explained away as cultural differences.

- Children can be extremely vulnerable and attention starved. The perfect victims.

- If you are found out, often there is no reliable justice system willing to defend the rights of penniless orphans.

-When you are kicked out, you can just go home and make up a story that will get you lots of sympathy and no one will check.

I am truly astonished to hear the collegues of this person noticed and took action. This seldom happens for fear of the orphanage's reputation or fear of wrongly accusing someone. That a crime like this abroad led to persecution and conviction in the US is even more surprising. God bless these people who had courage to take the right action and were willing to protect the kids. Hope next time the orphanage will take better precautions.

[sawasdee]

5 minutes ago, foreign fundie said:

<snip>

I am truly astonished to hear the collegues of this person noticed and took action. This seldom happens for fear of the orphanage's reputation or fear of wrongly accusing someone. That a crime like this abroad led to persecution and conviction in the US is even more surprising. God bless these people who had courage to take the right action and were willing to protect the kids..<snip>

I couldn't agree more. It's a sad thing to have to say, but this organisation definitely deserves kudos for confronting the problem head on, and doing something about it, irrespective of their own reputation. Too many groups, especially church groups, do not seem to have this kind of moral courage, and there have therefore been situations that have continued for years (the RCC, the BBC...)

[Gimme a Free RV]

"It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Luke 17:2 (KJV)

Yep.  He's gonna wish for that millstone in prison.  God WILL judge him...and so will all the other inmates.

This just sickens me to the core of my heart.  

[artdecades]

I will give this organization kudos when they take steps to prevent this sort of thing happening in the first place, instead of just doing their duty to report what took place. 

 

This guy is disgusting. I am glad he was caught and I hope he rots but it should not have happened in the first place.

[DaisyD]

I seriously wonder about that judge. This guy was convicted by a jury of his peers. They seemed to think there was enough evidence for all of the charges... He only got 40 years? He could/should have gotten 120 years even after the other three counts were thrown out. It really looks like this judge is showing some sort of favoritism from where I sit. Persecuted Christians indeed.