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U.S. NEWS Saturday 13 July 2019

U.S. man accused of sex abuse

at Kenyan orphanage he founded

By MARK SCOLFORO
Associated Press
LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — A
convicted sex offender
went on to establish an or-
phanage in Kenya where
he preyed on children un-
der the guise of missionary
work, according to fed-
eral prosecutors who an-
nounced Friday that he
In this June 26, 2019 file photo UCLA gynecologist James Heaps,
center, and his wife, Deborah Heaps, arrive at Los Angeles was being charged with
Superior Court. sexually molesting four
Associated Press teenage girls.
Gregory Dow, 60, of Lan-
9 more women file lawsuits caster, is accused of four

against UCLA gynecologist counts of violating a U.S. U.S. Attorney William McSwain announces the arrest of Gregory
law against sexual contact
with minors in foreign coun-
By STEFANIE DAZIO mer patients had reached tries, U.S. Attorney William Dow, 60, of Lancaster, Pa. during a news conference at the
Lancaster County Courthouse Friday July 12, 2019, in Lancaster,
Associated Press out to UCLA with "concerns McSwain said. There likely Pa.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nine about their interactions" are other victims, investi- Associated Press
more women have al- with Heaps. The university is gators said, but tracking said in the court filing. victims and allegations of
leged in two lawsuits they contacting them for follow- the children who lived in Dow "used force and coer- physical, psychological
were sexually assaulted by up interviews. Curry said an the orphanage has been cion to perpetrate the most and sexual abuse, they
a former gynecologist who additional 135 former pa- difficult.Dow is accused of heinous of crimes, preying said.
worked for the University of tients expressed support for abuse from 2013 until 2017, on vulnerable children for Dow and his wife, Mary
California, Los Angeles. the doctor. She declined when prosecutors say he his own sexual gratifica- Rose Dow, had fled by the
The lawsuits state the wom- to comment on the new fled back to the United tion," prosecutors wrote. time police arrived at the
en were assaulted by Dr. lawsuits. One of the wom- States to avoid prosecution There are also allegations home three days later, Ke-
James Heaps during exam- en in this week's lawsuits in Kenya. The Dow Family of physical abuse "inflicted nyan officials said.
inations between 1989 and was a 21-year-old UCLA Children's Home in Boito, in under the guise of strict dis- Dow was able to fly out,
2017. The women allege undergraduate student in a rural area west of Nairobi, cipline." but Mary Rose Dow was ar-
the inappropriate touching 1995 when she visited the closed in September 2017. Dow told LNP this year that rested and in January 2018
sometimes without gloves student health center for At one point, the orphan- he had not done anything was found guilty of two
was not for any legitimate a birth control prescrip- age housed more than 80 wrong and that he would counts of cruelty for helping
medical purpose and solely tion refill. The woman told children, many of them get a lawyer if Kenyan au- implant birth control in girls
for Heaps' sexual gratifica- The Associated Press in a with diseases, according to thorities attempted to ex- at the orphanage, Kenyan
tion. Heaps has been crimi- phone interview Friday she the LNP newspaper . tradite him. authorities said. A message
nally charged with the sex- was confused by Heaps' One girl said Dow accused "There's not much I can do. left at a phone listing linked
ual battery of two patients examination and questions her of having sex with I know the truth," he told to Mary Rose Dow was not
but denies any wrongdo- about her sex life. The AP someone else and told her the paper in a January sto- returned Friday.
ing. He has pleaded not does not identify victims of "that she therefore had to ry. "They made the accusa- In the motion that sought to
guilty. The most recent sexual assault. The woman, have sex with him as well," tions falsely, and they got keep Dow behind bars as
lawsuits were filed Thursday who is now 45 and lives in according to the gov- out of hand." he awaits trial, prosecutors
and Friday in Los Angeles San Mateo County, said af- ernment's detention mo- A federal judge in Phila- described him as a previ-
Superior Court against the ter she heard about Heaps' tion. Another told agents delphia on Friday ordered ously convicted sex offend-
doctor, the university sys- arrest from a friend that she tried to brace herself Gregory Dow to remain er, noting his 1996 guilty
tem's regents and other she wanted to tell her story against him but couldn't jailed until a detention plea to assault to commit
parties. Three of the nine and try to make her two stop him, the document hearing next week. A pub- sexual abuse in Iowa. He
women were UCLA stu- daughters' future experi- says. lic defender will represent received two years of pro-
dents at the time of the al- ences better, especially for Dow "purported to be a him. bation and was ordered to
leged assaults; the other six her older child. "I want her Christian missionary who Kenyan authorities told The register as a sex offender
were not students and saw to be able to say, 'Hey, you would care for these or- Associated Press that two for a decade, the U.S. at-
Heaps at the Ronald Rea- know what? My mom, this phans. They called him girls escaped from the or- torney's office told a judge.
gan UCLA Medical Center. is how she led her life, this is 'Dad.' But instead of being phanage in September That case showed Dow
UCLA Health spokeswom- what's important to her, this a father figure for them, he 2017 and notified them of represents "a persistent
an Rhonda Curry said in an is how she raised us,'" she preyed on their youth and abuse allegations. An in- danger to the community,"
email Friday that 117 for- said.q vulnerability," prosecutors vestigation identified more prosecutors said. q