Why Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko wants pedophile handed life sentence

American Terry Ray Krieger , 59, is assisted to the Milimani Law Courts cells after prosection gave evidence in a case in which he has pleaded guilty to charges of child pornography . [PHOTO: FIDELIS KABUNYI/ KABUNYI]

Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko has urged a Nairobi court to hand a life sentence to a pedophile who has pleaded guilty to charges of child pornography. 

State Prosecutor Duncan Ondimu told a Milimani magistrate’s court that offences against defenceless children are on the increase and only harsh custodial sentences will serve as a deterrent.

He said the offence attracts a minimum of six years imprisonment or a fine of Sh500,000 or both but urged the court to consider the gravity of the offence.

The prosecutor told Senior Principal Magistrate Joseph Karanja: “Only a harsh penalty will render justice to the victims whose images were circulated worldwide. The accused is clearly a danger to society and must be kept away for a very long time in order to give him ample time to reflect on his despicable actions and seek redemption from his maker.”

The American Terry Ray Krieger, 59, has already pleaded guilty to charges of circulating obscene images of Kenyan children by use of electronic media platforms between May last year and October, 2014.

This is the second time the charges were read to him, and he stuck to the guilty plea.

Pleaded guilty

Citing an incident in which Krieger sexually assaulted a 4-year-old girl, Mr Ondimu said perpetrators of such acts deserve harsh penalty. Police say the children are aged between three and 10 and are from the locality where the suspect resides

“By doing so, the court is not in any way making the convict a scapegoat for others but rather sending a clear message that pornography exhibited using vulnerable children is a crime. It is therefore legally punishable by harsh and severe sentence as it will render justice to millions of children who are suffering silently” Mr Ondimu submitted.

The state prosecutor said although the American pleaded guilty to the charge it did not mean he was remorseful.

“The admission of guilty was only made after the accused had been arrested and produced before court. He never came forward to the police to confess his heinous acts since he waited until he was hunted down by law enforcement agencies of Kenya and other friendly nations,” he said.

The court was told that on October 14 the Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro received a letter from the German Embassy in Nairobi containing a report regarding a case of child pornography where the accused who was arrested in Germany was in communication via the internet with another pedophile of American nationality residing in Kenya.

He was arrested at Olepolos in Ngong, after Interpol investigators in Germany and in the United States informed the local office of the presence of a pedophile in Kenya who was exchanging pictures with other “users” abroad.

The Cyber crimes forensic unit conducted an analysis of the digital repositories and a forensic report which was presented in court yesterday was generated.

However Krieger’s lawyer Daniel Bosire sought more time to study the documents and exhibits that were presented in court before he pleads on behalf of his client.

The magistrate directed the matter to be mentioned on November 27 when the court is expected to give further directions.