A Mombasa pastor was sentenced to 35 years in prison after being found guilty of defiling and infecting his 13-year-old step-daughter with HIV/Aids.
Pastor Jeremiah Gechiko Iteke allegedly defiled the minor by forcing himself on her between October 2010 and July 2011, at Kongowea village in Kisauni.
Senior Resident Magistrate B.M. Ekhubi convicted the man on March 1, 2017 after doctor’s report revealed evidence of forced penetration on the girl.
The magistrate also observed that Iteke’s defense was strewn with issues of denial and afterthoughts which could not stand when weighed against the prosecution evidence.
A medical test from the Coast General Hospital also revealed that the accused was HIV positive, a fact confirmed by his wife, mother to the victim.
"Iteke had sexual intercourse with me several times and got me pregnant twice and secured an abortion for me," the 13-year-old girl told the court.
During the hearing, the girl disclosed how the step-father would defile her on Wednesdays and Fridays when her mother had gone to church for night vigil.
She said she was scared to report him because he threatened to kill her and her mother.
According to the girl and her little sister, Iteke had been living with them since 2009 after he met their mother in church where he was a pastor and they saw him as their father.
The mother said that they had lived with Iteke with her two daughters for five years since 2009 in a single roomed house partitioned by curtains.
However, Iteke denied the accusations saying trouble began after he found his wife cheating on him with another man on their matrimonial bed after returning from a crusade in Likoni.
“I tried to discuss with her but she was uncooperative so I slapped her and that is when she screamed and vowed to teach me a lesson. I was then arrested and charged with defilement,” said Iteke.
He also told the court that he attended all-night vigil at the church with his wife on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Following the 35 years imprisonment sentence, Iteke moved to the appellate court seeking to overturn magistrate Ekhubi's judgement, citing unfair trial by the magistrate’s court.
“I pray the court to allow my appeal, quash the conviction and set the sentence aside pending my appeal hearing,” Iteke told the court.
According to him, Senior Resident Magistrate B.M. Ekhubi handed him an excessive sentence not stipulated in law.
Appearing before Lady Justice Dorah Chepkwony, Iteke argued that section 8(3) of the Sexual Offense Act of 2006 warrants a conviction of a minimum of 20 years for defilement of a child aged between 12 and 14 years.
Hearing of the appeal was slated for February 5.
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