Church worker sentenced over abuse of Indian girls in Brazil

Thursday, January 30, 2014  

A Christian missionary was sentenced to 58 years in federal prison in connection with the sexual abuse of Indian girls in Brazil.

Warren Scott Kennell, 45, pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography. He admitted that he photographed himself abusing two young girls from the Katukina Tribe in Brazil, where he had been sent to establish a church.

Kennell worked for the New Tribes Mission of Florida. The church's tactics involve learning Native languages in order to convert "unreached" tribes.

"These tribes’ cultures and languages have isolated them from the Gospel," the church says on its website. "Missionaries must learn their language and understand their culture in order to clearly present the Gospel and effectively plant a church."

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Florida missionary sentenced to 58 years in prison for sexually abusing indigenous girls in Amazon (The New York Daily News 1/30)