Nigeria: Pastor in Police Net for Sexual AbuseBy Esther Eziashi
allAfrica
May 1, 2008
http://allafrica.com/stories/200805010300.html
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/05_06/2008_05_01_Eziashi_NigeriaPastor.htm
A pastor in Love and Faith Bible a Church in Lagos has been nabbed by the police for allegedly engaging in homosexual act with six teenage boys who live in the same neighbourhood with him.
The suspect, Ugo Chima, 44 ministered at Love and Faith Bible Church, Buba Marwa Street, Ijegun, Satellite Town.
It was gathered that he had engaged in homosexual acts with them on different occasions since July 2007.
Pastor Chima lured his victims into the act by promising them that he would purchase GSM handsets for them as long as they kept mute about the whole episode.
It was learnt that the boys, whose ages ranged from 13-19 have made statements incriminating him.
The pastor, who is said to be married with children, was said to have sucked his victims' manhood until they 'released', after which he used a tissue paper to clean up and hide the tissue paper securely.
Mr. Frank Mba, the public relations officer of Lagos State police command confirmed the story, but said that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal and Investigations Department (SCID) for further investigation as the suspect is already in police detention.
Pastor Remanded for Defiling 8 Teenagers
Myjoyonline [Ghana]
May 22, 2007
http://www.myjoyonline.com/archives/news/200705/4881.asp
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2007/05_06/2007_05_22_myjoyonline_PastorRemanded.htm
An Accra Regional Tribunal has remanded a head pastor accused of defiling eight teenage girls within seven months.
The Pastor, James Nana Akwasi Agyemang who is also a herbalist, between May and December, 2006 at Dome in Accra, allegedly had sex with the girls between ages three and 12, in his bedroom and bathroom.
The accused pleaded not guilty to eight counts of defilement of a female under 16 years, contrary to Section 101(2) of Act 29/60, as amended by Section 11 of Act 554/98.
Prosecuting, Mrs Evelyn D Keelson, told the tribunal chaired by Mr Justice Frank Manu that Agyemang lives at Dome in Accra, while the two complainants are pastors in Agyemang's church.
Mrs Keelson said the Head Pastor had the church's Headquarters in Accra, with a branch in Cote d'Ivoire and that he used herbs to help him cure ailments. He had also established a school on the basis of a non-governmental organization (NGO), where he offered scholarships to brilliant but needy children.
She said as a result of the church's mission to assist members, residents in the community and his foreign branch, he managed to bring children from the Abidjan branch to Ghana in order for him to fulfill his objectives of offering scholarships to them.
According to the prosecutor, the complainants whose children were among those under the care of the Head Pastor, had their children falling victim of the accused person's wicked intentions to defile them.
Mrs Keelson said one of the church members from Abidjan visited her younger sister at the Headquarters. The sister disclosed to her that the accused had sex with her in his bathroom, adding that the mother came to Ghana to lodge a complaint to the police when she got the information.
Opposing a bail application by Agyemang's counsel, the prosecutor told the tribunal that defilement was one of the cases that bail should not be granted.
Putting up a brief defence, Agyemang's counsel stated that the two complainants concocted the story against his client.
Counsel described the situation as unfortunate. He said: "Some of the said victims came with their grandmothers to my office and told me that the story was framed up."
150 Priests Faced Sex Probe
News 24 (South Africa)
November 11, 2008
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2422934,00.html
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/11_12/2008_11_11_News24_150Priests.htm
Dublin - More than 150 Roman Catholic priests and members of religious orders have been probed over allegations of child sex abuse in the last 68 years in Ireland's biggest archdiocese, new figures showed on Friday.
The details were released in a statement from the Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin as closed official hearings continue into how the church managed the abuse.
He reiterated an appeal for anyone with information about child sexual abuse by priests in Dublin to make contacts with the child protection service of the diocese, the police and the health authority.
"It is only by knowing the full truth of the past (that) we can improve the levels of safety for children today," Martin said.
The church in mainly Roman Catholic Ireland has been rocked by the scale of the sex abuse scandals.
So far eight priests from the diocese have been convicted in the criminal courts and three others are currently facing charges.
The statement said sex abuse allegations have been made against 140 clergy, with suspicions having been raised in 12 other cases.
"The diocese also possesses information regarding allegations of sexual abuse where, despite close liaison with the civil authorities, it has not been possible to identify the priest concerned," the statement said.
Some 400 people have been identified who have either complained or are known or suspected to have suffered child sexual abuse by priests in Dublin.
"It is most likely that this is not a final figure," the statement adds.
In 2005, a watershed judicial inquiry into another Irish diocese - Ferns in the south-east of the country - reported on about 100 complaints of child sex against at least 21 priests there.
It was the first time the Irish state had ever investigated any aspect of how the once-powerful church is run.
In 1999, former Prime Minister Bertie Ahern delivered an unprecedented apology to victims on behalf of the state.
