State orders arrest of priest over rape
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/718748
Thursday, 6th May, 2010
By Steven Candia
THE Director of Public Prosecution, Richard Butera, has ordered the arrest of a Catholic priest in Nebbi district who allegedly defiled two girls, and possibly infected them with HIV.
Butera yesterday said evidence was sufficient to charge the Rev. Fr. Santos Constatino Wapokura. “That matter is clear: He should be charged,” Butera said in an interview.
He explained that the resident state attorney had already been instructed to charge the priest.
“He should have appeared in court and if he has not, I wonder why,” he said. In an earlier interview, the head of criminal investigations, Edward Ochom, ruled out settling the matter out of court, saying the offence was capital.
“We can afford to do that for chicken thieves, but not for a matter like this. He should be charged,” Ochom said.
The directive, Ochom said, had been communicated to the Police upcountry. It was unthinkable for a suspect on such a charge, he said, to be let off the hook out-of-court.
However, despite Ochom’s and Butera’s orders, the priest had not yet been re-arrested by press time.
Asked about the matter, the district Police commander, Alex Wabwire, in turn asked: “What is your interest in the case?”
The release of the priest had shocked the nation. Women rights activists in Nebbi are planning a demonstration over the matter.
Wapokura, 45, the parish priest of Pakwach, is accused of defiling a 14-year-old girl who was serving in the church. Wapokura had been in Police custody twice over the same allegations. His latest release was ordered by the resident state attorney, Innocent Obale, purportedly to allow the parties resolve the matter out of court.
Upon his arrest last month, the Police said the clergyman tested positive for HIV and upgraded his offence to aggravated defilement. He will be hanged if convicted. The priest dismissed the allegations as a ploy to taint his name.
One of the complainants told the Police that Wapokura would often ask her to go to his house, where he would follow her and force her into sex. On another occasion, the girl alleged, she was at the priest’s home with other visitors when Wapokura sexually assaulted her after sending away the other people.
Wapokura’s woes add to the long list of accusations of sexual misconduct by Catholic priests, which have rocked the Church lately. Another Catholic priest was arrested and charged with defilement in Gulu recently.
Worldwide, the church has been forced to pay out millions of dollars to victims.
Additional reporting by Frank Mugabi
