Pastor Handled 70 Years for Defiling Two Minors

A pastor in Kajiado County has been handled 70 years of jail time after being found guilty of defiling two minors.

Milimani principal magistrate Caroline Njagi on Tuesday sentenced James Njuguna to 50 years of imprisonment on count one and 20 years on count two. However, he will serve for 50 years as the courts directed that he serve the sentences concurrently.

According to court documents, the pastor defiled two siblings, a boy and a girl, aged 11 and 14 using religious connotations and manipulation.

The court heard that he told his victims that the fluid was the blood of Jesus entering and cleansing them. Further, he told them that his privates contained oil from God.

The minors were represented by International Criminal Justice Mission.

The court was told that Njuguna repeatedly defiled the children who were members of his congregation between December 24, 2014, and January 7, 2015 in Bondeni, Kajiado North sub-county.

His actions came to light after one of his victims fell pregnant and a DNA test ascertained he was indeed the father of the child in 2015.

In mitigation, the defense lawyer Peter Ombati urged the court to consider that the defendant has mental health issues of depressive psychosis and dipolar and hence the case should be treated as such.

Giving the ruling, the magistrate said the evidence provided before the court had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was guilty of the offense.

“In the circumstances, it is my finding that the prosecution evidence in this regard is watertight on counts 1 and 2 herein. I find that the two minors were truthful witnesses and their evidence was corroborated by medical evidence,” he said.

“I do find that the prosecution proved their case to the required standard as against the accused person herein on the charge of defilement in counts 1 and 2. The accused person is convicted as charged as per the provisions of Section 215 of the CPC.”