A Mennonite missionary from Virginia who lived in Haiti for more than a decade has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for child sexual abuse in the Caribbean nation.

James Arbaugh, 40, pleaded guilty in February to one count of traveling in foreign commerce from the US to Haiti to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child.

Arbaugh told authorities that he had engaged in sexual acts with a five-year-old boy in Jeremie, a Haitian city that was devastated by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

He also told investigators that he had groomed or had sexual contact with at least 21 Haitian boys.

Mennonite missionary James Arbaugh, of Virginia, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexually abusing children while working in Haiti (there is no suggestion any of the children in this picture were abused)

Arbaugh, 40, pleaded guilty in February to one count of traveling in foreign commerce from the US to Haiti to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child

Arbaugh, of Stuarts Draft, did missionary work in Haiti from 2008 to 2017. He frequently posted pictures of his trips on Facebook, including many with young boys.

But the trips stopped in 2017, when Arbaugh returned to the US after someone saw him 'engaging in inappropriate sexual contact' with a child, according to WHSV.

He told his counselor about the sexual contact and was reported to Child Protective Services the next day.

Arbaugh later admitted to police that he had touched the boy's genitals under the child's clothing. The five-year-old was the son of a Haitian church pastor.

The missionary also confessed that his sexual contact with minors had ranged from fondling to oral sex.

Arbaugh also told investigators that he had groomed or had sexual contact with at least 21 Haitian boys (there is no suggestion any of the children in this picture were abused)

Arbaugh worked as a missionary with Walking Together for Christ, an independent nonprofit organization with members from various Mennonite congregations in Virginia.

He described himself as an evangelist on his personal blog, and also said he was a religious film producer.

But prosecutors said Arbaugh was actually spending his time in Haiti befriending boys that he could go on to groom for sexual contact.

Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowsk said Arbaugh was a 'wolf in sheep's clothing'.

Arbaugh, of Stuarts Draft, did missionary work in Haiti from 2008 to 2017. He frequently posted pictures of his trip on Facebook, including many with young boys

The trips stopped in 2017, when Arbaugh returned to the US after someone saw him 'engaging in inappropriate sexual contact' with a child

'He posed as a selfless missionary when in reality he was exploiting his position to prey on and sexually abuse vulnerable children in one of the most impoverished areas of the world,' Benczkowski said in a news release.

He then told his counselor about the sexual contact and was reported to Child Protective Services the next day

'Today's sentencing is a testament to the unwavering commitment of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners to hold sexual predators like Arbaugh accountable for their deplorable crimes.'

Thomas Cullen, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, said Arbaugh 'abused his position of trust to prey on vulnerable victims'.

'Their lives will never be the same,' he added.

Arbaugh was sentenced on Monday and remanded to the custody of the US Marshals Service.

His sentencing comes just months after Daniel Pye, of Arkansas, received a 40-year prison sentence in the US for sexually abusing Haitian children.

Pye had been operating a well-known orphanage in Jacmel from 2006 to 2012.

Authorities say Pye regularly abused female residents of his orphanage, including girls as young as the age of six.