72-Year-Old Briton Handed 18-Year Prison Term for Raping Underage Kenyan Girls

A United Kingdom court has handed an 18-year prison sentence to a British man convicted of raping two underage Kenyan girls.

In May, Keith Morris was found guilty of the offenses, which he allegedly committed while on a holiday at the Kenyan coast in 2016 and 2017.

The 72-year-old was found guilty of nine counts of child abuse by Leeds Crown Court following a trial where witnesses from Kenya testified through video link.

An investigation carried out jointly by NCA and Kenyan police established that Morris had visited a village in Kilifi, and "frequently took local children away for trips, where he would buy them gifts and stay with them in hotel rooms".

“Under the guise of supporting Kenyan families, Keith Morris used his position of trust to abuse two young girls under his care,” Kate Hurst, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement.

“Both victims had the courage to describe what happened to them, including one victim giving evidence via video link from Kenya,” she added.

Morris was also found guilty of obstructing justice after it was established that he had transferred money to persons in Kenya "in exchange for helping him to prove his innocence".

In defence, Morris told the court that he acted “like a parent” to the minors and that they “enjoyed” spending time with him in hotels for luxury.

On Monday, the court slapped him with the long prison term after finding him guilty of four counts of rape of a child under 16, three counts of sexual assault by penetration of a child under 16, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 16 and two counts of obstructing the course of justice.