Traumatised and silenced: Schoolboys recount nights of alleged sexual abuse by medic

The testimonies are piercingly heartbreaking. The videos are horrific. The pain in the voices of the teenagers is palpable. Beyond their narrations lie emotional pain, trauma and disappointment with a man they had trusted.

Several teenage boys from vulnerable families and supported by an organisation based in Sondu claim that they were defiled by a HIV/Aids counsellor based at the Sondu Sub-County Hospital in Kisumu.

An investigation by The Standard has established that the alleged perpetrator even recorded himself defiling some of the boys. The videos are gross and disturbing.

By the time of going to press, the suspect had not been arrested by police, but county officials claimed he had been interdicted as investigations began over his alleged conduct.

It all began when Jeff Obat, the director of Obat Helpers Foundation, an organisation believed to support vulnerable boys with education and other forms of assistance, opted to link the boys they are supporting with school fees to the medical officer.

According to Obat, the suspect was his friend, and he had trusted him to help the minors whenever they went for treatment at the medical facility.

However, this was the genesis of sexual assault against the minors.

“I had known the suspect for about a year and had hoped that he would help the boys whenever they needed assistance at the facility,” he says.

At the weekend, however, several victims narrated to The Standard how they were sodomised by the counsellor, recorded on video and warned against revealing the matter to anyone.

For a 17-year-old secondary school student from Sondu, the pain is unsettling. The boy, identified as John, not his real name to protect his identity, says he was sodomised in the suspect’s house.

Kisumu Health CECM Gregory Ganda during the launch of the MamaCare and Kisumu Mental Wellness applications at Acacia Premier Hotel in Kisumu, on October 27, 2026. [Rodgers Otiso, Standard]

John says the ordeal began in August 2026, during school break, when he visited his friend in Sondu. The friend is the counsellor who would host them.

"We were staying a few metres from where the other boys lived. I went to buy food, and we ate together,” he says.

After the meal, John says, the suspect suggested that they visit a nearby nightclub. He agreed, believing there was nothing unusual about spending time with someone he had known for a while.

“I did not resist because he was my friend. We went to the club, and I started drinking alcohol after enticing me. Later, we returned to his house, and I was already drunk and confused,” he recalls.

John says he sat on a sofa and fell asleep. After a short while, his friend allegedly asked him to move to the bedroom.

He did not suspect anything unusual and obliged. “I was drunk, and I slept until morning,” he says.

When he woke up, he realised that he had been defiled, and the bed had bloodstains.

John claims that the suspect told him to take some medicine that had been left on a table and assured him that he would be fine, but the pain persisted even during showering.

John further alleges that the suspect told him not to worry about the incident and warned him against telling anyone when he returned to his usual residence.

Similarly, Nathan, a 17-year-old Grade Nine student at Agai Secondary School, claims the suspect made sexual advances at him during a visit to his residence.

Nathan says the incident occurred on September 19, 2026, when their director Obat was away attending to a sick student who later died. He claims the man lured him and his friend to his house.

Because it was late, the man suggested that they spend the night at his house. Nathan alleges that the man attempted to sodomise them but they resisted.

Another victim, Alex, also not his real name, claims he experienced a similar ordeal after accompanying the suspect to his house at night. The 16-year-old says he had been asked to pick up an acquaintance from Sondu town and later accompanied the suspect to his residence.

Alex says the visit extended into the night and he was asked to spend the night. He alleges that while he was sleeping, the man sexually assaulted him.

Alex says he returned to the place where he was staying but did not disclose the ordeal to anyone. He claims he remained silent because the man was a friend of Obat and he did not want to ruin their relationship.

The Standard has accessed two explicit videos, lasting approximately one minute and 40 seconds and 33 seconds, respectively, depicting sexual acts involving the minors in a room. The recordings have not been published to protect the children.

Obat, who spoke to The Standard at his home in Sondu, says he learned of the allegations on October 17, 2026, and reported the matter the following day.

He says the man regularly interacted with the boys, particularly on weekends, and lived close to the place where some of the children stayed. Obat claims he never the friend could be engaging in heinous acts.

He reveals that he had entrusted the friend to offer medical assistance to the boys.

Obat says the boys' disclosures prompted him to seek help from the authorities and ensure that they received medical attention.

He says the victims were taken to a health facility for assessment and treatment as the organisation pursued the matter with the police and child protection officials.

Obat alleges that some of the boys and other people who had raised concerns about the man's conduct confronted him before taking him to Maraboi Police Station.

He says the group wanted the allegations formally recorded and investigated. However, Obat expresses concern about the initial handling of the matter, claiming that the suspect was released, which left the boys vulnerable.

He further alleges that they were not given an occurrence book number when they first sought assistance.

Yvonne Chepkoech, a Nyakach-based child protection volunteer and human rights defender, described the incident as disturbing, adding that they had documented 20 complaints from the boys.

“The boys opened up and went to seek help from the police station, but the person they accused was still roaming around freely,” she says.

Sondu Sub-County Hospital Medical Superintendent Bruce Ouma confirmed that four minors had been treated at the facility.

“The victims were handled at the facility, and they were four. This was in October. We are liaising with the police and the children's department, and the county is involved,” he says.

Ouma says the victims were aged between 16 and 17, with reports indicating that the abuse took place in August before the children were brought to the hospital in late October.

Ouma assures that the hospital is cooperating with the relevant agencies on the allegations.

Asked about the staff member implicated in the allegations, Ouma says he did not know there conduct outside the workplace.

Kisumu County Executive Committee Member for Health and Sanitation Gregory Ganda says the county government has received allegations of sexual offences against children linked to one of its health facilities in Nyakach.

“We have received some allegations of sexual offences against children coming from one of our facilities in Nyakach. I am also informed that videos are circulating online about the alleged offences, and this has been brought to our attention,” he says.

Dr Ganda says that they had initiated disciplinary proceedings against the suspect who has been interdicted as investigations continue.

The suspect, however, denied the allegations claiming that they were malicious but revealed he had been instructed not to report to work.

“The same people making these claims are my friends, and we used to spend time together. I have been summoned by the county government and the human rights office and told not to report to work. The allegations that I engaged in sodomy with the boys are false,” he said.

A senior police officer attached to the Anti-Human trafficking and Child Protection Unit told The Standard that they have recorded statements from 17 boys implicating the suspect. He said that they are also probing the organisation that has been helping the boys.