HomeCrime WatchNigerian Pastor Based In UK raped Members 88 Times, Jailed 34 Years

Nigerian Pastor Based In UK raped Members 88 Times, Jailed 34 Years

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A Uk-based Nigerian pastor, Michael Oluronbi, has been sentenced to 34-years imprisonment.

The pastor was accused of raping his members for over 20 years now. He has been in the act of raping both children and adults who are mostly members of his church.

The ill-doings has been happening for over a period of 20 years, at different locations, dating back to the 1980s.

Pastor Michael Oluronbi was a part of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

He, however, left the church to establish his own group made of about 40 adults and children.

He established it at a different location. There he started a practice of ‘spiritual bathing’ in Birmingham and London.

The pastor who resides in Birmingham was arrested at Birmingham Airport in May 2019.

He was about to leave the UK with some of his belongings before he was arrested.

Although the police could not say for sure if he was trying to run away, they noted that he was of late confronted about the assault by one of his victims.

According to the prosecutor, Phil Bradley QC, who told the jury that he continuously raped his victim, while telling them that he was carrying out a “holy bath” on them

Bradley said, “The Crown’s case is that Mr Oluronbi used what he called ‘spiritual work’ as a subterfuge for that sexual abuse.

“The main tactic he employed was to claim that God had instructed him to administer ‘holy baths’ to some of his congregation in order to ‘cleanse’ them and protect them from evil influences.

“That activity began when his victims were children,” There can be no doubt that its real purpose was to serve his sexual gratification.”

For some of the female victims, the offence “progressed to repeated rapes, on many occasions leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations,” he said.

“You will learn that this man, who was revered and feared by his victims, kept a vice-like grip on many of them and continued to abuse them well into adulthood,’ Mr Bradley added.

During the hearing of the case, there was nothing less than 88 distinct incidents during which he had raped his victims.

He carried out some of the offences after he was able to convince his victims to take part in the spiritual bathing; five of them were his church members.

It was reported to the Jury that some of his young female victims ended up pregnant, however, they were taken to abortion clinics to have the baby terminated.

Pastor Michael was convicted of two counts of sexual assault, seven counts of indecent assault and 15 counts of rape.

His 60-year-old wife, Juliana was an accomplice in his adulterous activities and she was jailed for 11 years imprisonment.

She was found guilty of three counts of supporting and promoting rape seeing that she helped in making arrangements for some of the abortions.

Both accused will be expected to sign the ‘sex offenders’ register for life.

Pastor Michael and his wife, Juliana.

According to the judge presiding over the case, Judge Sarah Buckingham he was only using the Spiritual bath as an avenue to satisfy his unappeasable sexual desire.

She said: “the real purpose of the ‘spiritual baths’ was to “fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite.”

Judge Buckingham said: ‘You claimed that God was instructing you to conduct holy baths. ‘Its real purpose was to fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite.

The children feared you and this enabled you to continue your grip. ‘Your offending has had an extreme and severe impact on all of your complainants.

Any attempt to suggest otherwise would be without foundation. ‘You abused your position of trust – they trusted you like God.”

“You did this because you are an arrogant, selfish and vain man. ‘In my judgment, your offending must be one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts,” the judge continued.

The arrogant pastor as described by the judge was brought to trial after one of his victims, came forward.

However, the pastor has blamed the devil for the evil doings. When finally confronted about his assaults, he said, “the devil made me do it.”

While giving evidence in his own defence in court, Detective Superintendent Nick Walton of West Midlands Police said the pastor ‘laughed’ on several occasions.

According to Mr Walton, pastor Oluronbi had been working as a pastor until his arrest in May 2019.

Police also expressed their belief that there could be more victims and have advised anyone with information to get in touch.

Speaking on the case, his victims described him as ‘controlling’ and ‘almost like a king’.

In a video which was done the previous year by a family member of his victims, the pastor was seen and heard saying “Everything was his fault”.

He said: “Everything was just my fault, and as I said before, I wasn’t meant to be human. ‘I wasn’t meant to live under the roof of any human being and I said that I was an animal.”

West Midland’s Police released the video after the trial. Despite the video being at The police’s disposal, the pastor was still denying the allegations in court.

He was even laughing in the witness box while giving his own evidence in his defence.

This led to his victims rendering evidence against him during nine weeks of legal proceedings. He even laughed in the witness box while giving his own evidence.

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