71-year-old German national charged in Kenya for sodomising minors

A Germany national was on Tuesday charged in court for sodomizing four teenagers aged between 10 and 13 years old in Kenya.

Thomas Scheller, a 71-year-old retired engineer, was charged with six counts, among them dealing with child pornography, child trafficking and raping four boys.

Court documents show that the offences were committed in Kisumu and Nairobi counties.

The court heard that Scheller, who is in the country illegally, is a habitual paedophile who targets young boys.

The prosecution team told the court that Scheller had a pending case at Ukunda Police Station in Kwale County before he fled to Kisumu, where he lured young boys to his rented apartment in Nyalenda and exposed them to pornography before defiling them.

Scheller was detained following an application by a senior police officer attached to the women and children’s rights division of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

Officer Lawrence Okoth Okoth told the court that Mr Scheller had been on the police radar since he was linked to a German-based child abuser, to whom he allegedly sent pornographic materials video-taped in Kwale County and its environs.

During his arrest, the accused was in the company of a boy suspected to have been a victim of child trafficking and defilement.

After his arrest, the suspect led police to a lodge in Nairobi’s Ngara estate, where he allegedly stayed with the minor between April 30 and May 4.

The accused was termed a flight risk because he had no fixed residence having committed the offences in Nyalenda, Kisumu County, and later arrested in Starehe.

The matter will be mentioned on June 19, 2020 when a pre-trial conference will be held.