Says Teenage Missionary Accused Of Raping Little Girls In Kenya

oge okonkwo

August 7, 2014 3:17 PM

The defence counsel claims the confession of the accused may be as a result of voodoo

A missionary boy from Oklahoma, USA, accused of raping and molesting up to 10 children at a Kenyan orphanage claims he was possessed by a demon named Luke.

According to federal prosecutors, court documents say 19-year-old Matthew Lane Durham told a friend about his supposed alter-ego: 'Literally he takes me at night and there is nothing I can do to stop him.

Durham was engaged in sex acts with as many as ten children aged 4 to 10 - including one who is HIV positive - while volunteering at the Upendo Children's Home near Nairobi from April to June 2014.

The Upendo Children's Home specializes in assisting neglected Kenyan children by providing them with food, housing, clothes and academic and religious instruction.

In text message to a friend - which prosecutors submitted as evidence - Durham wrote: 'It takes me at night and I am powerless to what Luke wants. Yes I named him, I know how crazy that is.

'He whispers in my ear all day and he's so hard to resist.'

Durham if found guilty and convicted could face up to life in prison for engaging in illegal sexual conduct in foreign places, aggravated sexual abuse with children and other charges.

The defence counsel, Stephen Jones, claims the confession of the accused may be as a result of 'some sort of pseudo-tribal psychological voodoo.'

And Jones has challenged Durham's statements about the allegations and claims they were coerced by orphanage officials in Kenya who kept him in isolation and confiscated his passport.

The teenage boy was granted bail by the judge pending the outcome of the case.

oge okonkwo