A federal jury wrapped up its first day of deliberation Thursday without reaching a verdict in the trial of an Oklahoma man charged with sexually abusing children at a Kenyan orphanage.
Matthew Lane Durham, 20, has pleaded not guilty to 17 counts of sexual misconduct with children, including aggravated sexual abuse and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Durham's jury began deliberating a verdict in the case after a prosecutor called Durham a "wolf in sheep's clothing" during closing arguments in the federal courtroom in Oklahoma City. Prosecutors allege that Durham targeted orphans while serving as a volunteer at the Upendo Children's Home in Nairobi, Kenya, between April and June 2014.
"These kids were compliant. And they were reliant," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Petermann said of the orphans' relationship with Durham. "The wolf in sheep's clothing got among the lambs," he said.
Citing a videotaped interview Durham gave to orphanage officials, Petermann said: "Not once did he say he didn't do it."
But defence attorney Stephen Jones urged jurors to find Durham not guilty and said his client was the victim of money seeking officials who coerced his confession.
"This case is overwhelming with reasonable doubt," Jones said.
Jones said Durham provided orphanage officials with handwritten, signed statements providing details of misconduct only after they seized his passport, held him in isolation, and made reference to demons and evils spirits, which Jones said scared the young Christian man who was confused about his "sexual identity and development."
Jones has suggested that the orphanage officials fabricated the allegations in an effort to get $17,000 from the U.S. government for security cameras, and he questioned whether testimony from orphanage founder Eunice Menja was credible.
The trial, which started with jury selection on June 10, is being held in Oklahoma under a federal law that gives U.S. prosecutors the authority to prosecute American citizens who travel abroad for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with someone under age 16. Orphanage officials and five of the orphanage's children travelled from Kenya to testify.
Earlier in the trial, Durham testified about his Christian faith and his onetime belief that he was possessed by a demon that made him "do evil." He also said that despite struggling with a temptation to touch children, he never acted on it.
Jurors deliberated for about five hours before recessing. Deliberations are scheduled to resume Friday morning.
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