Jury selection to start in sexual misconduct trial
Ponca City Now - June 9, 2015 10:29 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Jury selection is scheduled to begin in the federal trial of an Oklahoma man accused of sexual misconduct with children at an orphanage in Kenya.
Matthew Lane Durham was a volunteer at the Upendo Children’s Home in Nairobi, Kenya. The 20-year-old Edmond man faces 17 counts of sexual misconduct including aggravated sexual abuse and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.
Durham is accused of engaging in sex acts at the orphanage that specializes in assisting neglected Kenyan children. He has pleaded not guilty. He faces life in prison if convicted.
At the request of government prosecutors, the children he’s accused of abusing will testify in private. They will speak through an interpreter. Ten missionaries are also expected to testify.