A CHARITY boss from Herefordshire has been found guilty of  sexually abusing street children in Kenya.

Simon Harris, from Pudleston, near Leominster, found his victims through the small town charity he set up.

The verdicts came in today at Birmingham Crown Court after a nine week trial under new legislation intended to prosecute British nationals for committing sex crimes overseas. It was the first time that legislation had been used to prosecute offences in Africa.

Harris was found guilty of three charges of indecent assault of a boy, five charges of sexual assault of a boy and four charges of possessing indecent images, between early 1990s and May 2013. 

He was found not guilty of five charges of rape of a boy and three charges of attempted rape of a boy, four charges of sexual assault and one charge of possessing an indecent image.

Harris has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on January 30.

He had denied  a range of offences committed against street children in Gilgil, a small town in Kenya, where he was a charity volunteer co-coordinator. 

Concerns about Harris were first raised with UK authorities in March last year.

A Channel 4 TV crew uncovered the allegations while researching a documentary.

Specialist detectives from West Mercia Police worked with international liaison officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) with visits to Kenya, to gather evidence and interview potential victims.

The joint investigation team worked closely with the British High Commission in Nairobi and Kenyan authorities.

Harris was first charged in July last year under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which is used for prosecuting British nationals committing sexual offences overseas. He was charged with additional offences linked to Gilgil in October last year.

To ensure all witnesses and identified victims in Gilgil were able to give their evidence, a satellite link to Birmingham Crown Court was set up at a temporary court room in Kenya.

The West Mercia Police inquiry  led to an investigation into claims that Harris abused boys at  a private school in Devon where he taught Latin in the 1980s.

Harris  admitted to six charges related to offences at this school with two other charges left on file.

It was also disclosed to the court that Harris had previously served a 15-month jail term over a 2009 conviction for possessing indecent pictures of children

In Gilgil, the court heard, Harris  "preyed" on needy young Kenyan boys picking them up off the street before taking them to his home to sexually abuse them.

Harris had moved to Kenya in the 1990s using his own money to set up the charity VAE which placed gap year students into local teaching posts.

The 11 Kenyan victims were all street children, described to the court as having "with nobody to look after them" living a "desperate" existence.

In evidence, Harris was said to drive into the town and encourage young boys into his Land Rover with offers of "food, money and cigarettes” before driving back to his home, known locally as The Green House.

There, they would be "given jobs" around the house, like cutting grass, cleaning and fetching water.

Harris would wash and molest some of the children after they arrived, while at night others would be invited into his bed.

Some, the court heard, were not assaulted, but those to whom Harris took a fancy  were.

In court, Harris said he was the victim of “rumour and malice” cooked up by colluding witnesses.

The victims were said to be “ acting as one”  with their evidence the subject of “endemic contamination”.

The Channel 4 team was accused by the defence of  “exploiting” the street children to form a “negative view” of Harris.

Over the  five counts of possessing indecent images of children, the court was told that “all but two” dated to before the 2009 conviction with Harris “unaware” they remained on his computer.