Sentenced to 40-year prison term for sex crimes, ex-missionary plans appeal
A former missionary was sentenced Monday to spend 40 years in federal prison for committing sex crimes against four children while volunteering at an African orphanage.
Matthew Lane Durham, who asserts he is not guilty, asked the Oklahoma City federal judge to show him mercy.
Durham, 21, of Edmond, told U.S. District Judge David
Russell that God gave him a “servant’s heart,” and he will continue to share God’s love.
“In the end, it is the judgment of God that is central, not the judgment of man. I do not fear God’s judgment of me,” he told the judge.
The judge told Durham that he believed the children’s testimony and was satisfied that Durham lied.
“These were heinous crimes committed on the most vulnerable victims,” the judge said. “He was their worst nightmare come true.”
Prosecutors asked for a 120-year prison sentence, the maximum possible. Durham’s defense attorneys asked for an eight-year prison sentence plus probation.
Durham plans to appeal.
‘Very traumatized’
Dressed in a faded orange Logan County jail uniform, Durham remained composed as the judge ordered the punishment on the four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.
The four counts involved three girls and a boy ranging in age from 5 to 14. Durham was ordered to pay $15,863 in restitution to the victims.
Eunice Menja, the founder of Upendo Children’s Home, appeared to cry during the sentencing. She testified Monday for the orphanage children who “are still very traumatized.”
“Matthew Lane Durham’s rape of the Upendo children is not only a betrayal of (the) Upendo mission and of the trust Upendo placed in him but also a violation of the human dignity (of) his victims,” Menja said.
“One of the many goals of Upendo is to protect children from rape. Now the very person that raped them was an American volunteer and a sponsor.”
She testified Durham’s actions jeopardized the orphanage, saying the Kenyan government threatened to shut it down. She also said the victims continue to struggle.
“One of the raped children ... still needs assurance everyday that Matthew Durham is never going (to) kill her,” Menja said.
She told the judge that the child said Durham threatened to “cut her body into pieces” if she ever told anyone.
“Putting Matthew Lane Durham behind bars for a very long time might not bring complete healing to his victims, but must send a powerful message to other offenders like him,” Menja said.
“Allow me to remind this court that Matthew has no remorse.”
Plans for appeal
Durham’s attorney, Stephen Jones, said “Matthew cannot show remorse because he’s not guilty.
“He’s innocent. The pressure brought upon him in Kenya by Mrs. Menja of not letting him leave until he had confessed verbally and in writing, wouldn’t give him his passport back, is strictly against the law. And we are considering what civil action, if any, may lie and whether we should pursue it,” Jones said after the sentencing.
The evidence at trial against Durham included text messages he wrote blaming his actions on a demon named Luke and confessions made in Kenya.
Prosecutors alleged the sexual offenses happened in 2014 while Durham was on his fourth mission trip to the orphanage.
In June, a jury convicted Durham of seven counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, but the judge in January threw out three of the counts.
Jones said after the sentencing that he was disappointed.
“I was hoping for 30 years or less. But he’s already served 18 or 19 months (in jail) and he gets 15 percent off for good behavior so the sentence is somewhere really in the low 30s. And there may be other things that will impact it,” Jones said.