A former United States embassy staff member has received a life sentence in federal prison following a prolonged campaign of sexual violence against two highly vulnerable teenage girls in Burkina Faso. Fode Sitafa Mara, an American citizen from Takoma Park, Maryland, weaponised the victims' desperate living conditions and their mother's severe illness to coerce them into repeated sexual encounters.
The 41-year-old was stationed in the West African nation's capital, Ouagadougou, where he resided in an exclusive, taxpayer-funded diplomatic housing compound. Just a short distance away, his 13-year-old and 15-year-old victims lived in a squalid slum that lacked basic necessities such as running water, making them highly susceptible to his manipulation.
