Cleric accused of raping woman during prayers for her ailing son

A cleric, who raped a woman inside his church during special prayers for her ailing son before assaulting her for disclosing the ordeal to churchmates, is facing rape and assault charges.

At the Makadara law courts, Reverend Jack Adek Ogutu of the Jerusalem Church is accused of raping the survivor at the church located at Soweto, Kayole in Nairobi on July 11.

He is accused of raping WA contrary to section 3 (1) (a) (b) (3) of the Sexual Offences Act (SOA) of 2006.

The reverend is facing an alternative charge of committing an indecent act with an adult in contravention of section 11 (1) of the SOA.

The suspect also faces additional charges of assault and malicious damage to property, contrary to sections 251 and 339 (1) of the Penal Code respectively, after allegedly beating up WA and damaging her mobile phone valued at Sh24,500 during the ordeal.

“On July 11, 2025 at Soweto area in Kayole Sub County within Nairobi County, willfully and unlawfully damaged a mobile phone make Samsung A51 worth Sh24,500 the property of WA,” the charge sheet reads. The suspect denied all the charges when he appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Joseph Karanja.

Ogutu, 41, is accused of beating up 29-year-old WA after she informed her churchmates what had happened to her, despite his orders not to say anything regarding the rape to anyone.

The mobile phone was destroyed during the act after she received a call from a friend who coincidentally called her during the incident, while she was being subdued by the suspect.

The church mate who called WA during the incident told the police during the investigations into the incident that she was calling WA to know her whereabouts; however they could not talk as she only heard a commotion and WA crying for help.

The witness informed church elders who accompanied her to the church where they found their reverend still on the act.

The witness told the police that there was an intense struggle between the WA and Ongutu, according to the commotion. The witness was among the first responders together with elders who later intervened and rescued her and WA from being further assaulted by the suspect.

The cleric jumped over the window after the witness started bagging the door and demanding that they come out.

WA had gone to the church for prayers but the cleric started caressing her, which prompted WA to excuse herself briefly to go to her friend’s place and she informed her.

However, the friend who is now the key witness in the case told WA that it was normal for pastors at their church to touch women anywhere including the genitals as that was the only way of removing evil spirits during the prayers and exorcism.

The court heard that WA and Ogutu had settled the matter out of court and wanted to withdraw but prosecution counsel Allan Mogere declined the application.

The suspect was released on a bond of Sh200,000. The case will be mentioned on September 4 for a pretrial and fixing of hearing dates.