SOUTH AFRICA
The Citizen
The Sexual Offences Court has sentenced a priest to life imprisonment after he raped a 12-year-old boy on two occasions in August 2011. Multimedia
During sentencing on Thursday, Magistrate Deon Minnie said the priest, Sipho Matthew Manana (47) at Jericho Apostolic Church in Mhluzi, placed a high premium on his Christian values and is in fact so revered by his followers that he regularly lays his hands in prayer on children in the township at their request, Middelburg Observer reported.
“The accused engaged in grooming when he often bought the child gifts and gave him money, raping the boy on more than one occasion, and making it extremely difficult for the victim from a poor single parent household, to disclose the offences,” said Minnie.
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