Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a 63-year-old cleric, Chris Douglas, to life imprisonment for raping a church member’s daughter.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Rahman Oshodi found Douglas, the General Overseer of Peculiar Generation Assembly Church in Oshodi, guilty of abusing his spiritual authority and trust to exploit the victim.
Describing the act as a serious betrayal of confidence, the judge said, “The convict occupied a position of spiritual authority and was regarded as a father figure by the victim and her family.”
He added that instead of safeguarding that trust, the convict “betrayed it in the most reprehensible manner.”
The court noted that the abuse took place in a hotel on multiple occasions, stressing that the victim and her family depended on the cleric for spiritual direction.
Justice Oshodi further held that the prosecution successfully proved the victim suffered significant psychological harm as a result of the assault.
“The court accepts the evidence that the victim suffered depression and recurring suicidal thoughts as a direct consequence of the convict’s actions,” he said.
In her testimony, the victim told the court that Douglas initially drugged and raped her in September 2017. “I trusted him like a spiritual father. I never imagined he could do this to me,” she testified.
Her mother also narrated how she confronted the cleric after learning about the abuse.
“When I went to his church, he cried and said it was the work of the devil. He begged us in front of the elders,” she said.
Although Douglas denied the allegations, claiming the relationship was consensual, Justice Oshodi dismissed his defence, ruling that the prosecution had proved rape beyond reasonable doubt.
The court discharged him on six counts of defilement and sexual assault but convicted him on three counts of rape. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment on each count, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently.
“The law must protect the vulnerable, and this court will not hesitate to punish abuse of trust in the strongest terms,” the judge said.
The court also directed that Douglas’ name be entered into the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Register.
