Skip to main content
Press Release

Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Engaging in Illicit Sexual Conduct with Minors in the Republic of Kenya

For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs

A Lancaster County, Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty today to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge Michael Driscoll of the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office made the announcement.

Gregory Dow, 61, pleaded guilty to four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place, before U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith. Sentencing is set for Sept. 29, 2020.  

According to the plea agreement, Dow, an American citizen, traveled to the Republic of Kenya in 2008 to start an orphanage which came to be known as the Dow Family Children’s Home.  While running the orphanage with his wife, he sexually abused, on multiple occasions, four minor girls between October 2013 and September 2017.  During this time period, he maintained ties to the United States.  

The FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office conducted the investigation with assistance from Kenyan authorities and local law enforcement in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Trial Attorneys Lauren S. Kupersmith and Lauren E. Britsch of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Stengel of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.  

Updated June 15, 2020

Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Press Release Number: 20-541