The High Court in Kampala has handed a 40 year imprisonment sentence to a prophet who turned prey on his followers and defiled a 16 year old girl with whom he fathered twins and also infected with HIV.
Court presided over by Justice Margret Mutonyi was in shock as facts of aggravated defilement case against prophet Elijah James Kimera of Faith Centre church of All Nations in Lusanja Wakiso were being read .
It was prosecution’s key evidence that the victim’s mother was a member of prophet Elijah’s church but the two adults developed sexual relations that resulted into the birth of two children.
Further, that the victim who was by then studying in senior three was later introduced to the prophet for spiritual guidance and also became a choir member . It was during these moments at night that prophet Elijah had sexual intercourse with the victim in the car in the church compound.
Court has further heard that the abuse continued until the victim birthed twins something that Justice Mutonyi has termed as abomination in the African culture to birth children with a mother and a daughter and turning them as co-wives .
The Court has further condemned the prophet for being deceptive and manipulative by keeping on denying that he didnot know the whereabouts of the victim only for court to rescue her and the twins from the church .
According to Justice Muntonyi , it was after all these facts were laid bare that the prophet was exposed as being false by having sex on the sacred ground of church that later he had a change of heart to plead guilty and asked for forgiveness from both court and christ .
However Justice Mutonyi said remourse after being exposed is aimed at manipulating court into giving a lenient sentence since even after prophet Elijah was granted bail, he kept on co-habiting with the victim until she became of age a year ago.
Here the judge noted that Courts owe a duty to protect underage girls from sexual predators since even in criminal sessions , 70% of listed cases are for aggravated defilement.
Justice Mutonyi added Defilement at church is like Defilement at home because pastors are like spiritual parents ponting out that in this particular case , relatives will live with trauma because mum and daughter birthed from the same man who due to his reckless sexual behaviour infected them with a deadly disease.
35 year old Prophet Kimera has been informed that he has a right to appeal only on the sentence but not conviction because he pleaded guilty.
