Cleric jailed 75 years for defiling, infecting minors with HIV

A clergyman was on Tuesday sentenced to 75 years in prison for defiling and deliberately transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to three minors.

Mr Joseph Agutu Obala was convicted of four counts at a Kisumu court – three of defilement and one of infecting the minors.

Each of the defilement offences earned him sentences of 20 years while the latter crime earned him 15 years in jail.

He will serve the sentences consecutively, the court said.

In Mombasa County last Thursday, a 51-year-old man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for repeatedly defiling and impregnating a minor.

Mr Ngoloma Kakenyi Mulinge was found guilty of defiling a 12-year-old, Standard Four pupil in 2016.

While reading the judgment, Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Diana Mochache said Mr Mulinge deserved no mercy.

In April, a report by human rights activists indicated that more than 1,208 children might have been defiled in Kisumu County in the previous 15 months.

The incidents reportedly took place between January 2017 and March 2018. Out of the 1,208 children, five of the victims were living disabilities. 

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