A 72-year-old British paedophile, Keith Morris has been jailed more than 18 years for sexually abusing girls in remote villages in Kenya while he was on holiday between 2016 and 2017. 

Morris integrated himself into the village located in the Kilifi county of Kenya and earned the respect of the elders through his help in building houses, funding education and facilitating travels to a local clinic for medical attention.

On Friday, a Leeds Crown Court found Morris, who reportedly befriended poor families in Kenya so he could take advantage of their young girls and even raped one of them on more than 200 occasions, guilty.

Known to his victims as ‘Mozzy’, Morris made friends with the families of his victims over the course of his 20 years stay there, giving them money and gifts on several occasions.

Morris, who hails from Hull also financially sponsored several of the families and paid for their children’s education.

“You were a benefactor to the residents, especially the children. There is no doubt that you used your elevated and financially powerful position to gain access to the girls,” Judge Mairs of the court said while delivering the verdict.

“The sex offences occurred in Kenya. You stayed at a number of tourist hotels. The evidence in the trial showed the abject poverty of its residents. Life is brutal, hard and often short.

“You befriended the village. For many years you did good work. There is no doubt you used your elevated position to gain access to the young girls. You groomed them. You chose the weakest of the girls and you preyed upon them.

“You preyed upon the most vulnerable. You were clearly in a position of trust and you abused that. I have reached a global figure to represent the global offending,” the judge added.