Former head teacher gets 17 years for Kenya child abuse

Charity boss Simon Harris, 55, of Pudleston near Leominster, lured boys using food, money and the promise of schooling to his luxury home in the East African country where the abuse took place between 2002 and May 2013.

Harris was convicted after trial last year of three indecent assaults and five sexual assaults, with one victim thought to be as young as nine.

He was also found guilty of four charges of possessing indecent images of children.

Harris, who sat in the dock at Birmingham Crown Court wearing a suit and tie, never once looked up as the sentences were read out to him by Judge Philip Parker QC.

Addressing the former classics teacher directly, Judge Parker told Harris he was obviously "intelligent" and "charismatic", which had given him "a veneer of respectability", but that he had used this to conceal a "self-centred arrogance".

"You designed your life to be close to boys - it suited you to be in education," he said.

"It gave you kudos and it also provided a source of boys."

The judge added: "It is abundantly clear you have an unlawful sexual interest in young boys."

Concerns about Harris were first raised with UK law enforcement in March 2013 and detectives from West Mercia Police worked with officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) who together travelled to Gilgil, Kenya to gather evidence and interview victims.

Harris set up a gap-year charity in Kenya where he sexually assaulted abandoned and vulnerable children. Birmingham Crown Court heard he would groom and lure boys to his house in Kenya by offering them food, shelter, clothing and money.

It was the first prosecution of a British citizen in England, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, for sex offences committed against children in Africa. The boys gave evidence via satellite video link from Kenya, directly into Birmingham Crown Court.

Detective Chief Inspector Damian Barratt, Senior Investigating Officer for West Mercia Police, said: "I would like to thank the investigation team, the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Court Service, High Commission in Kenya and the International Justice Mission, all of whom played vital roles.

"The convictions and today's sentence sends an important message to people who have been the victim of crimes such as these to come forward, because time and geography is no barrier to justice.

"The emotional impact on the victims of the abhorrent actions of this man is impossible to quantify. I hope that the conviction and sentence gives some small comfort to them and our thoughts are very much with them all at this time."