Haiti missionary sentenced to decades in prison for child sex abuse

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(AP) – A Mennonite missionary from Virginia has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a child in Haiti.

James Arbaugh of Stuarts Draft had pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of traveling in foreign commerce from the U.S. to Haiti to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child. He had lived in the impoverished Caribbean nation for more than a decade.

Brian Benczkowski leads the Justice Department's criminal division. He describes the 40-year-old Arbaugh as a "wolf in sheep's clothing."

Arbaugh was arrested last year after telling a counselor that he had sexual contact with minors in Haiti. Authorities said he told them that he groomed or had sexual contact with at least 21 Haitian boys. He was sentenced Monday.