After failing to reach a verdict Thursday, a jury in the federal sex abuse case of a former missionary from Edmond finally returned a verdict on Friday.The jury found Matthew Durham, 20, guilty of 7 of the 17 crimes with which he was charged.
The man was accused of sexually assaulting eight children, aged 5 to 15 years old, while he was volunteering at the Upendo Children's Home in Kenya lastsummer. It was the fourth mission trip for the then-19-year-old college freshman from Edmond, Oklahoma.
Durham was charged after a woman working at the home claimed to have walked in to a girls' dormitory to find the young man in a bunk with one of the girls.When questioned about it later, Durham confessed to molesting children and even signed a confession.
He was charged in federal court in Oklahoma City with the following crimes:
During his trial, witnesses included the children he was accused of molesting, who testified through an interpreter in a closed courtroom. Others who testifiedincluded the co-founders of Upendo Kids International, including one who took his confession, but did not report the suspected sexual abuse to lawenforcement for five days; a doctor who examined the alleged victims; and a Kenyan police officer.
Durham himself took the stand at the end of the trial, repeatedly telling the court, "It didn't happen," in reference to the sexual abuse allegations againsthim. His defense maintained that Durham never molested any of the children, and that his confession was coerced. Defense attorneys say orphanage administratorskept him in isolation, took his passport, and threatened him if he didn't confess. They say his video confession was edited by Eunice Menja, the Upendoco-founder to whom he confessed, and that she drafted his signed confession. Furthermore, they alleged that Menja told Durham that she believed hewas possessed by a demon that committed the crimes against the children, and Durham confessed because he began to believe her. Durham testified thathe did not remember doing anything to the children, but since Menja said she had "evidence," he became convinced that he was possessed by a demon namedLuke who forced him to commit acts of which he had no knowledge or recollection.
At the end of the trial, the jury found Durham guilty of 7 counts and not guilty of 10 counts. The former missionary was convicted of 7 counts of engagingin illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for each count.
Durham was acquitted of 10 counts, including eight counts of aggravated sexual abuse of children, one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreignplaces, and one count of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
