A Kisumu court on Tuesday sentenced a priest to 75 years in jail for defiling three minors and intentionally infecting one of them with HIV.
The accused, Joseph Agutu Obala, was reportedly living with the three minors — two aged 15 and the other 14 — at an orphanage.
Kisumu Senior Resident Magistrate Pauline Mbulika found the man of the cloth guilty of three counts of defilement and deliberate transmission of HIV.
The court heard that the accused committed the crimes between April and July 2016 and that he also touched the minors inappropriately in their private parts.
The prosecution lined up four witnesses who narrated to the court how the ‘Bishop’ lured the vulnerable minors into the act after promising to cater for their education.
One of the minors told the court that the accused promised her grandmother that he would offer her education only to turn on her while under his care.
The minors told the court that they were subjected to the ordeals for three days before they managed to escape and report the matter to the police.
Mr. Agutu denied the offences, telling the court that there was no sufficient proof to implicate him.
The clergy man further accused one of the minors of framing him after allegedly refusing to sponsor her education.
In her ruling, Magistrate Mbulika said the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, adding that medical reports presented in court indicated that one of the minors had been infected with HIV.
