Pennsylvania Man Sexually Abused Minors At Orphanage He Started In Kenya, Sentenced To Over 15 Years

A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing minors at an orphanage he founded in Kenya, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Gregory Dow, 61, started the Dow Family Children’s Home with his wife near Boito, Kenya, in 2008, according to the DOJ. Dow sexually abused four female minors, two of whom were 11 when the abuse began, on several occasions over a four-year period.

“Under the guise of faith-based charity work benefiting orphaned children, Gregory Dow traveled halfway around the world to prey on incredibly vulnerable victims,” Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said, the Associated Press reported. “His crimes are nearly incomprehensible in their depravity.”

In a ruling made against a paedophile who defiled children in need of care and protection in Kenya, a U.S based court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has today sentenced Gregory Dow, 61, to 15 years, 8 months in Prison and a lifetime of supervised release. pic.twitter.com/1KRlG5L8ym

— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) February 4, 2021

Dow’s wife took the girls to a doctor to receive birth control implants, “which allowed Dow to perpetrate his crimes without fear of impregnating his victims,” prosecutors said. Dow was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison, lifetime supervised release and was ordered to pay $16,000 in restitution.

“Despite his lengthy sentence, he remains forward-thinking and focused on his personal growth and atonement,” Assistant Federal Defender Katrina Young said, the AP reported. Dow apologized for his crimes during his court appearance, according to public defenders.

Dow pleaded guilty in 2020 to four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign place last year, the AP reported. He returned to the U.S. after Kenyan officials started to investigate allegations of sexual abuse in 2017, the AP reported.

“Ironically, Dow had established the Children’s Home under the guise of Christianity, with financial support from Churches & Faith-based organizations from the U.S.,” the Directorate of Criminal Investigations-Kenya tweeted Thursday.

The orphanage was operational for around 10 years, the AP reported.