A principal and pastor with the Deeper Life Bible Church in Ondo State, Adetunji Obatayo, has been remanded in the correctional center for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old student.
Obatayo, 55, was remanded by the Akure Division of Magistrates’ Family Court in the state on Wednesday.
The accused, who is the principal of a private school in Oka-Akoko in Akoko North East Local Government Area of the state, was accused of procuring an abortion for the victim.
He was charged with three counts of defilement, unlawfully prescribing drugs to procure abortion, and killing the unborn child of the victim in his custody.
Read also: Police Officer Detained After Raping Teenager Inside Station
Obatayo was said to have committed the offense sometime in February 2020 at Epinmi-Akoko, Akoko South-East local government area. The police prosecutor, Folashade Adesuyi, informed the court that the defendant molested the victim.
Adesuyi said the offenses, according to the charge, contravened Sections 218, 230, and 328 of the Criminal Laws of Ondo State, 2006. He said that the victim’s confession led to the arrest of the defendant.
Read also: Man Sentenced to Prison for Raping a Child in 1999
The victim, in her narration before the court, said she was placed under the guardianship of the cleric by her parents when she was 10 years old.
“Four years ago, my parents released me to live with the pastor (Obatayo) due to his desire to train me. On my first day in his house, he forcefully had sexual intercourse with me and told me not to tell anyone about it.
“He had impregnated me three times, and he gave me N5,000 to buy some contraceptive drugs to abort the pregnancy after many preventive drugs.
READ ALSO: N70,000 New Minimum Wage Applies To Housemaids, Other Domestic Workers—Senate
“But during the third pregnancy, he refused to give me money for the drug, and I stole his money to buy the pills. The pastor later accused me of stealing his money for my boyfriend, which led to the arrest of a boy in our school, and I informed my parents about it,” she told the court.
The Presiding Magistrate, B. A. Alphonso, ordered the cleric to be remanded at the Correctional Center and directed the case file be sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.
The victim was ordered to be taken in for rehabilitation until further notice, and the case was adjourned to August 29.
Credit: Daily Trust