US missionary sentenced to 10 years in prison for * assaulting 14-year-old Ugandan girl OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
An American missionary, Eric Tuininga, was sentenced to 10 years in a US federal prison after he was found guilty of defaming a 14-year-old Ugandan girl who was in his care at the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Mbale District.
Mr Tuininga, 45, of Milledgeville Georgia was ordered by US District Judge Marc to pay $20,000 (approximately Shs75m) in restitution. T. Treadwell and spend a lifetime under surveillance as a registered* offender after getting out of prison.
In February, Mr Tuininga pleaded guilty and was taken to prison pending sentencing. He risked up to 30 years in prison, according to reports at the time.
Several American media reported that the recommended sentence for Mr. Tuininga was seven to nine years.
However, the judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison after hearing testimonies from the victim’s carer and some of Tuininga’s relatives. Tuininga’s lawyer had demanded five years in prison.
“I want to acknowledge the true courage shown by the Ugandan girl when she spoke out when she was attacked by a confidant with power from another country, who bravely sought justice across the continents,” prosecutor Peter D. Leary quoted in a statement.
“Law enforcement, both abroad and here, took on a challenging international case,” he added.
In 2019, Mr. Tuininga was reported by a fellow US citizen who worked in the same church and had contacted the US Embassy in Kampala that the now-convicted* had Ugandan girls aged 14 under the care of their church.
The United States Department of State, federal agents from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in Kampala began an investigation into the allegations and subsequently identified the abused minor, who was then 14 years old, in May 2019 when Tuininga* was with her.
Tuininga had already returned to his home in Georgia, but the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Child Exploitation Unit, Atlanta, continued the investigation.
Eric Tuininga used his trusted position as a preacher to * attack a young Ugandan girl in his care. This was a challenging case, but law enforcement officers worked diligently to ensure that Tuininga did not escape justice for his crime in the abroad,” said US attorney Peter. D.Leather.
Mark Bube, general secretary of the denomination’s foreign missions committee, has said that Tuininga’s misconduct was reported by other Orthodox Presbyterian missionaries in Uganda and that he was removed from missionary work in 2019.
Bube said Tuininga was later completely removed from the ministry and excommunicated from the church in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
Tuininga joined the Church from a separate but affiliated denomination in Oregon. A website describing Tuininga’s work in Uganda said he started working there in 2012 after working at Immanuel’s Reformed Church in Salem.