Sex Crimes

Opening statements set in trial of Oklahoma man accused of abusing Kenyan children

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 4, 2014 file photo, Stephen Jones, attorney for Matthew Lane Durham, talks with the media outside the Federal Courthouse in Oklahoma City, following a detention hearing for Durham. A Jury of eight men and four women, plus three alternate jurors, were seated after U.S. District Judge David Russell, prosecutors and defense attorneys asked about 70 prospective jury members questions, including whether they have been victims of sexual abuse. Matthew Lane Durham, 20, of Edmond, was a volunteer at the Upendo Children’s Home in Nairobi, Kenya, and faces 17 counts of sexual misconduct including aggravated sexual abuse and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 4, 2014 file photo, Melissa Durham, left, and Kyle Durham, right, leave the Federal Courthouse in Oklahoma City, following a detention hearing for their son, Matthew Lane Durham. A Jury of eight men and four women, plus three alternate jurors, were seated after U.S. District Judge David Russell, prosecutors and defense attorneys asked about 70 prospective jury members questions, including whether they have been victims of sexual abuse. Matthew Lane Durham, 20, of Edmond, was a volunteer at the Upendo Children’s Home in Nairobi, Kenya, and faces 17 counts of sexual misconduct including aggravated sexual abuse and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File) (The Associated Press)

Opening statements are scheduled in the trial of a 20-year-old Oklahoma man accused of sexual misconduct with children at an orphanage in Kenya.

Matthew Lane Durham has pleaded not guilty to 17 charges, including aggravated sexual abuse and engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places.

The first of 35 prosecution witnesses are to being testifying once prosecution and defense attorneys give their opening statements Wednesday.

A 12-member jury was seated in the case on Tuesday.

Durham is accused of engaging in sex acts with the children between April and June 2014 while working as a volunteer at the Upendo Children's Home in Nairobi, Kenya. He faces life in prison if convicted.