A FORMER Herefordshire teacher has this afternoon been sentenced to 17 years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting vulnerable street children in Kenya.

Simon Harris, 55 and from Pudleston, is the first British citizen to be prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for sex offences against children in Africa.

Harris was in the east African country having set up a gap-year charity and lured young boys to his home with food, clothes and money.

Following an eight week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, a jury also found him guilty of four counts of possessing indecent images of children.

The prosecution was brought following an investigation by West Mercia Police and the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command.

At the beginning of his trial, Harris admitted six offences of abusing children at Shebbear College in the late 1980s.

Concerns about Harris were first raised with UK law enforcement in March 2013 and detectives from West Mercia worked with officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) who together travelled to Gilgil, Kenya to gather evidence and interview victims.

The Kenyan boys gave evidence via satellite video link from Kenya, directly into Birmingham Crown Court.

Detective Chief Inspector Damian Barratt, Senior Investigating Officer for West Mercia Police, said: “I would like to thank the investigation team, the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Court Service, High Commission in Kenya and the International Justice Mission, all of whom played vital roles.

“The convictions and today’s sentence sends an important message to people who have been the victim of crimes such as these to come forward, because time and geography is no barrier to justice.

“The emotional impact on the victims of the abhorrent actions of this man is impossible to quantify. I hope that the conviction and sentence gives some small comfort to them and our thoughts are very much with them all at this time.”