A 29-year-old self-styled pastor with the Jesus Revival Ministry at Atafoa New Site, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, has been convicted by a Kumasi Circuit Court for defiling a four-year-old girl.
The accused, a junior pastor, Oppong Baafi Derrick, who lives in the same vicinity with the victim, was arrested by police after the mother of the victim reported the matter in October, 2017.
According to the victim’s mother who’s the complainant, she detected some whitish fluid like semen and sore in and around the victim’s private parts and noticed changes in how the victim walked.
The complainant explained that the victim told her and the witness in the case that the accused person lured her into a church building, laid her down on the red carpet on the altar, covered her mouth and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her.
The complainant reported the incident to the Senior Pastor of the Church, but the accused denied when he was interrogated by elders of the Church.
The complainant went ahead to report the incident at the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, where a medical report was issued to her to take the victim to the hospital for examination and treatment.
The accused was charged with defilement but he pleaded not guilty to the offence.
The accused was arraigned before the Gender-Based Court (Circuit Court One) where the case was heard.
The court, presided over by Her Honour Comfort K. Tasiame sentenced the accused to 20 years imprisonment.
Source: citinewsroom.com
