July 9 (UPI) -- A Nepali court has sentenced a prominent Canadian humanitarian and former United Nations adviser to nine years in prison for the sexual assaults of two boys last year.
A district court in Katmandu levied the sentence Monday, after Peter Dalglish was convicted last month of abusing the boys, who were 12 and 14, in the small Nepali town of Kartike. He's been in custody for more than a year.
"Peter Dalglish's sentencing is an alarm bell for the humanitarian community," Lori Handrahan, a veteran international aid worker, told The New York Times.
Handrahan called on her colleagues "to tackle the pervasive problem of predators in our humanitarian workplace."
The case has put a spotlight on the work done in Nepal by non-governmental organizations, where thousands often work with few limitations.
Dalglish's attorney Nader Hasan said last month the humanitarian would appeal the conviction.
"He wasn't someone who was a tourist there," Hasan said. "He lived there and spent years doing humanitarian work in Nepal.
"He wasn't in some seedy hotel luring children. He was part of the village, was well-liked and a mentor to many young people and adults in that village."
Dalglish has a long history in working with nonprofits. He co-founded Street Kids International in the 1980s, a Canadian NGO aimed at improving living conditions for children in developing countries. He's also served as a senior adviser to the U.N. Habitat in Afghanistan, the World Health Organization and the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response in Liberia. He's a named member of the Order of Canada for his global humanitarian work.
