St. Louis CofCC Blog

Pocono Record:

Former ESU prof sentenced to state prison for sexual assault

STROUDSBURG — A former East Stroudsburg University professor was sentenced Friday to two and a half to five years in state prison for sexually assaulting a former student at his home in November 2006.

Upon completing his sentence, Richard Nyamwange, 51, will be placed on probation for five years on a second charge of indecent assault. A jury convicted Nyamwange in September.

Also, because he is not a legal U.S. resident, the Kenyan native faces deportation, said the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office. In addition, the victim is suing him for damages she has suffered due to his actions. She was not present at his sentencing.

Nyamwange maintains that what occurred between him and the former student that day at his home, though a mistake, was consensual.

(snip)

Family and friends tearfully addressed the court at Nyamwange’s sentencing, calling him someone worthy of leniency as a good man, a loving, faithful husband and father, an active church member and a productive citizen.

“He has four boys who need him,” said his wife of 28 years, Monica Nyamwange. “He came a long way from poor roots. He lost an older sister last year. This whole thing has been devastating. His parents have been displaced by political turmoil (in Kenya).

“The family has been affected emotionally,” she said. “If he goes away to prison, I’ll have to raise (our youngest son) on one income.”
His son, Joseph Nyamwange, said the family has survived on principles of love, grace and faith.

“After all the media coverage, after hearing random students call my father a rapist, after his conviction, it’s been faith that’s kept me going,” he said. “For me and my brothers, this is a moment in our lives when our father’s presence in our family is pivotal to us. I have faith that the court will see my father is a good man. He’s my personal hero.”

Others called Nyamwange an inspirational role model to many who know him, a man who does what he can to support his blind father and sick mother in Kenya.

I was also expecting to read that he was a good boy, an honor roll student, an aspiring rapper and a multi-sport athlete, that just happened to fall in with the wrong crowd.  At 51, though, that excuse just wouldn’t work — like it wouldn’t already be lame if he were 17.

When he finishes his sentence, don’t be surprised if the school makes an effort to keep him from being deported, and then re-hires him if that is successful.