The Anglican Church of Kenya Bishop, Joel Waweru, was yesterday charged with two criminal counts related to sexual assault.
The city bishop was charged with sexually assaulting a woman by touching her breasts and attempting to kiss her without consent.
Appearing before Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Derrick Kuto, Waweru denied the two counts.
He was released on Sh50,000 cash bail and directed that the matter be mentioned after a fortnight.
According to the charge sheet, the cleric committed the offence on different dates and times in the Lang’ata sub-county within Nairobi County.
“Being a person in a position of authority, he persistently made sexual advances to the woman knowing or having reason to believe that such advances were not welcome by the accuser,” read the charge sheet.
He was charged with the second count of touching the breast indecently on July 13, 2021.
The police report stated that the accused person is said to have sexually assaulted the woman since 2018.
The court heard that the woman was even demoted from being the parish vicar and the archdiocese at a church she was serving, to a vicar and later transferred to a different church and her salary deducted.
The police report said the woman complained that the bishop on various occasions embarrassed and asked her to tell the congregation that he had never demanded sex from her as the rumours claimed.
The woman further told the police as per the documents that the bishop also tried to kiss her but his wife entered the office but she did not notice anything.
The police report further stated that one day when she had a stain on her blouse, the man of God came to her office and indecently touched her breasts where the stain was which made her feel uncomfortable and uneasy.
She reported to the police that the Bishop had again, according to the police, told her that she was beautiful and he liked her.
The police report states that the woman feels the Bishop is obsessed with her yet she is married.
