Essex paedophile who accused victims of lying and fled to Kenya to evade sex charges is jailed
A man who spent ten years sexually abusing three girls has been jailed - after being tracked down in Kenya.
Anthony Kamau, 51, accused his victims of lying about him and then fled the country in a bid to avoid prosecution.
Kamau, from Saffron Walden, was sentenced to nine years and eight months in prison, after being found guilty of multiple sexual offences against three children.
He was arrested in 2019 by a unit of Essex Police which specialises in investigating non-recent sexual offences against children.
The investigation found he spent more than 10 years sexually abusing three girls between 2006 and 2017.
Prior to his first court hearing, despite having his passport seized, Kamau fled the country.
Officers had to work closely with several agencies to track Kamau down in Nairobi and extradite him back to the UK.
After serving his sentence, Kamau will not have the right to return to the UK.
Caroline Horden, who managed the investigation, said: “Kamau put the victims through horrendous abuse and tried to run away from what he did.
“He put the victims through the trial and implied they were lying, only to then admit what he had done to probation services in a pre-sentencing interview.
“The victims have handled the entire investigation with dignity and maturity, and I really hope that this sentencing allows them to move forward.”
Speaking after the sentencing, a victim praised officers for the way they handled the investigation.
“Coming forward to Essex Police about my experience with sexual assault was not what I expected.
"I felt comfortable speaking to the officers involved from the very start. Understandably not everyone is as comfortable with sharing such intimate details. But there is only so long you can keep it bottled in for and there will always come a time when you just want to release the burden and fully heal from it.
“Sometimes with trauma like sexual assault, it’s easy to push the feelings so far in the back of your mind, that you actually forget details of an incident.
"My biggest piece of advice is to try and remember all the key details - that way if you do decide to report an incident later in life, you will be more confident and certain of your truth.
“This also has a knock on effect with helping you heal and not carrying it with you for too long. The officers involved in my case were persistent in bringing the defendant to justice and constantly reminded me that the only person who should feel guilty is the perpetrator.”
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