TEXAS
A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a former general manager at an orphanage in Malawi to 25 years in prison for engaging in sexual acts with a minor orphan, according to officials.
But Gerald Campbell admitted that there were seven other orphans who he sexually abused, according to the evidence.
Campbell, 66, of Odessa, Texas, plead guilty on May 18 to one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.
U.S. District Judge Robert A. Junell of the Western District of Texas also ordered Campbell to serve a lifetime of supervision and to pay $40,000 in restitution.
According to his plea agreement, Campbell, an orphanage manager, engaged in sexual acts with eight minors, all of whom were orphans living at the Victory Christian Children’s Home in Malawi between 1997 and 2009.
Campbell said he used his position as orphanage manager, with access to better accommodations and amenities, such as hot water, to lure the minor victims into the house and sexually abuse them. One of the victims suffered from the effects of HIV, according to officials.
In addition, Campbell admitted that he knew that what he was doing was wrong and that he thought nobody would believe the minors if they reported the abuse. Furthermore, Campbell admitted that he sent money to some of the minors in an attempt to keep them from reporting the abuse to authorities.