Kevin Hegarty QC Prosecutes to Conviction Former Teacher and Charity Worker Simon Harris

On the 16th Dec 2014 Kevin Hegarty QC prosecuted Simon Harris to conviction of child sex abuse in Devon and Kenya. After a trial lasting more than 2 months a jury convicted Simon Harris guilty of eight charges of indecent and sexual assault on boys in Gilgil, Kenya and four of possessing indecent images of children. Harris admitted six Devon offences on the first day of the trial. Simon Harris was formerly a teacher at Shebbear College in Devon where he sexually assaulted boys. He then set up a gap year charity in Kenya where he sexually assaulted abandoned children. Birmingham Crown Court heard he would lure boys to his house in Kenya by offering them food, shelter and money. It was the first prosecution of a British citizen in England for sex offences committed against children in Africa. The boys gave evidence by a broadband link from Kenya to Birmingham.

Sentence will be passed on 30th January 2015.

BBC News coverage can be found here.