KwaZulu-Natal – Five KwaZulu-Natal girls, including orphans who were abused by a US Peace Corps volunteer, will be given about R240 000 to share – as a form of compensation by the US government and the family of their perpetrator.

This emerged after Jesse Osmun, 31, appeared in the US District Court in Hartford, Connecticut, last week after pleading guilty to engaging in illicit sexual conduct with children.

Osmun’s attorney, Richard Meehan, said the money was made up of $20 000 (R160 000) from the Peace Corps and $10 000 (R80 000) to be donated by Osmun’s family.

“We have agreed with the government to create a fund to benefit these specific children and the Peace Corps has graciously agreed to voluntarily contribute,” Meehan said.

“The fund will be administered by a US law firm pro bono under the supervision of the court. It is an attempt by my client and his parents to provide for some services for these children,” he said.

Osmun was on assignment at the Umvoti Aids Centre in Greytown last year when he abused five girls aged between three and five years old.

Two months ago, he pleaded guilty to illicit sexual conduct with children. He faces up to 30 years’ imprisonment in a US federal jail. Osmun will be sentenced on October 10.

Joan Dutton, director of the Umvoti Aids Centre, said she was initially sceptical about the children receiving “blood money”, but she changed her mind after realising the good it could do for their future.

She said that while she had not been told the exact amount, she had been in touch with US investigators who had spoken to her about offering the children compensation.