A United States couple that faced sexual abuse allegations, continued to seek financial support to run a children’s home they owned in Kenya even after they fled the country in September 2017, the Nation can now reveal.
Investigations now show that Gregory Hayes Dow and his wife Mary Rose, who left Lancaster County, US to open a home for the needy and orphaned in Boito, Bomet County, asked for financial support between November 2017 and March 2018. This was despite the fact that the home was closed down as soon as they fled the country after detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) launched investigations into sexual abuse allegations against them.
On September 14, 2017, a court in Sotik issued an arrest warrant for Dow but police officers failed to arrest him as he had already fled back to the US. However, in February 2021, Dow, was sentenced for 15 years in prison in the US for abusing underage girls in the home in Kenya. This was a year after he pleaded guilty to four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors in a foreign place.
In emails in our possession, Mr Dow, through Mr Doug Lamb, who is a pastor at Life Gate Church in Elizabethtown, solicited money saying it was for the running of the home in Kenya, which was closed at the time.
On November 19, 2017, Mr Lamb wrote an email in which he explained that Ms Rose was in desperate need of money for a lawyer to deal with the sexual allegations made against them in Kenya.
“Mary Rose’s hearing was the end of the first phase: the prosecution rested its case. Now Mary Rose and her lawyers need to prepare their defence,” the email reads. “They need $4,000 (Sh580,760) for legal fees and many other decisions to be made. Continue to send emails of encouragement and blessings to Mrs Mary Rose. Pray that she will rest and get better.”
At the time, Rose had been arrested as she fled the country on her way back to the US and was on trial over the sexual abuse allegations. She was found guilty of cruelty to children for implanting contraceptive devices in girls. She paid a fine and left the country and the orphanage.
In a March 14, 2018 email from Ms Heather Elicker alias Heather Lamb, she introduced herself as an administrative assistant and encouraged people to send them donations for the day-to-day running of the home.
“The Dows still need financial support for the next six to nine months. If you are willing and able to help, donations can still be sent to Partnership for Revival at 1180 Zeager Road, Elizabethtown,” the email reads. “We want to help send money to the home in Kenya to pay the workers who maintain the property. We want to keep the electricity and water bills up to date. We need to have minor repairs and painting done around the property and there is a need to pay for fuel to mow the grass, trim the trees and weed.”
Heather indicated that the main aim was to keep the property presentable for sale and for their personal use and promising that “anyone who would contribute to the kitty will surely be blessed”. She also accused a neighbour of the Dows here in Kenya of threatening to grab the 1.5-acre land on which the house stood.
Dow met Mr Lamb in 2002 and worked for him until 2006 when they decided to come to Kenya and start a home. They arrived in Kenya on February 27, 2008. Dow had previously been convicted of a sex crime in Iowa before he met Mr Lamb.
Court records in the US show that in August 1996, Dow was charged with committing a lascivious act with a child. The charge stemmed from an incident in which he was accused of fondling a 14-year-old girl. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault and was sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison.
On July 4, 2008, five months after arriving in Kenya, the Dows sent an email with a financial breakdown of everything they needed in two categories: immediate needs and monthly expenses to run the home.
In the category of immediate needs, they said they needed financial support for Class E entry permits and passes, final payment on the house and title, money they owed Mr Lamb for the plane tickets, beds, tables and benches and water bills. The total amount they asked for was $8,772, but they said they had $2,200.
Under monthly expenses, they said they needed a total of $18,595. The expenses they needed to sort out included food, electricity bills, gas, water, phone and internet, salary, ministry outreach supplies, clothing, health care and travel expenses.
“Please note that this budget will change by approximately three percent per child as we get more children. We still need your help,” reads the email to funders.
The Dows were also funded by Brittany’s Hope, an organisation working in children’s rights. However, on September 16, 2017, Brittany’s Hope cut its funding over the sexual abuse allegations. Mr Lamb was a member of Brittany’s Hope’s board, but his term was not renewed after 2017.
The Nation has also established that in December 2010, the Dows hosted a donor-sponsored party attended by musician and pastor Joel Kimeto. According to sources, Mr Kimeto is the one who first welcomed the Dows to Bomet.
Mr Kimeto said the Dows paid him a visit and told him that they were willing to work with him in spreading the gospel and that they also loved his music.
The Nation is in possession of messages that show that when Rose was in police custody in Kenya, Mr Kimeto used to update Mr Lamb on how she was doing.
When contacted, Mr Lamb did not respond to our messages or phone calls.
