Embassy worker sentenced to life

A Maryland man who was an employee at the US Embassy in Burkina Faso has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting two girls while working in the African nation, federal prosecutors said. Fode Sitafa Mara, 41, was convicted last year by a federal jury of four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, as well as one count each of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and attempted obstruction of justice.  Mara was sentenced on Thursday. His lawyer, Robert C. Bonsib, said Mara has asserted his innocence throughout the case and plans to appeal. A US citizen, Mara was an employee at the Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Trial evidence showed that Mara forcibly raped two teenage girls in at his embassy-leased residence in Ouagadougou.