Thomas Scheller jailed for 81 years for child pornography in Kenya

74-year-old Thomas Scheller, a German national, has been jailed for 81 years after being found guilty of child pornography and child trafficking by a Kenyan court.

Thomas Scheller was found guilty of three counts; trafficking, indecent acts with minors, and child pornography. Principal Magistrate Caroline Njangi handed the offender 30 years in the slammer for trafficking, 15 years for committing an indecent act with a child, and 7 years each for three counts of child pornography.

The German national, who is believed to have entered the country illegally, was initially charged with defiling a minor between March and April 2020 in Kisumu County’s Nyalenda area.

He was also charged with intentionally and unlawfully recruiting, transporting, and harboring a 13-year-old child for the purpose of exploitation through fraud, as well as showing a pornographic video to two young boys.

According to the Police, Schelle had been on the run in Kwale and fled to Kisumu where he committed the crimes before he was arrested in Nairobi outside the German embassy.

During the proceedings, he claimed that he was being falsely accused of the crimes and that he only wanted to help the 13-year-old minor and her mother.