U.S Missionary who fled Kenya after accused of sexually assaulting 4 minors pleads guilty

A U.S missionary who fled Kenya after he was accused of having sexually assaulted 4 little Kenyan girls now pleads guilty.

The 61-year-old pleaded guilty on Monday in a federal court hearing to four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign place between 2013 and 2017.

Dow established “Dow Family Children’s Home” in Boito, Kenya, in 2008.

He eloped Kenya in 2017 when the allegations of assault came to light.

During a teleconference meeting on Monday Dow admitted to, and acknowledged the allegations of the prosecution as the truth.

Under his plea agreement, Dow will be serving 15 years and 8 months in prison, and have to register as a sex offender when the sentence is served.

Prosecutors stated that when the abuse started two of the girls were 11, one was 12, and the other was 13.

Prosecutors stated in the court filing:

“[Dow] purported to be a Christian missionary who would care for these orphans. They called him ‘Dad.’ But instead of being a father figure for them, he preyed on their youth and vulnerability.

[Dow] used force and coercion to perpetrate the most heinous of crimes, preying on vulnerable children for his own sexual gratification,”

Prosecutors also noted that Dow was arrested for sexual assault back in 1996 in Iowa. He was sentenced to 2 years probation then and had to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

The orphanage closed in September 2017. Dow is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29, 2020.