The church cleric was sentenced to life imprisonment (Image: Getty)
A cleric has been sentenced to life in prison for raping the daughter of a church member. Chris Douglas, 63, was accused of drugging and raping a teenage girl in Lagos, Nigeria.
He was in court on six counts of defilement and sexual assault and three counts of rape, having raped the girl in a hotel on several occasions. Her family often went to Douglas, the General Overseer of Peculiar Generation Assembly Church, for spiritual guidance. The victim said in court: “I trusted him like a spiritual father. I never imagined he could do this to me.” She was left with severe psychological trauma and depression, with “recurring suicidal thoughts as a direct consequence” of the rapes. When her mother learnt what happened, she went to confront Douglas: “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.” The rapes were reported to police, healthcare workers, and a human rights organisation.
The teenage girl and her family went to the cleric for spiritual guidance (Image: Getty)
Justice Rahman Oshodi said Douglas abused his position of authority and trust to exploit the teenager. He said: “The convict occupied a position of spiritual authority and was regarded as a father figure by the victim and her family. Instead of protecting that trust, (Douglas) betrayed it in the most reprehensible manner.”
The prosecution, led by the director of public prosecution, Dr Badajide Martins, called five witnesses, including the victim, her mother, and a doctor.
Douglas denied the allegations and told the court that the relationship was consensual. Justice Oshodi rejected this, saying the evidence showed rape beyond reasonable doubt.
The court found that some alleged incidents were not sufficiently proved to have taken place before 2018, when the teenager was under 18.
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Chris Douglas was sentenced to life in prison on three counts of rape, with six counts of defilement and sexual assault dismissed. His name has also been entered into the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Register.
“The law must protect the vulnerable, and this court will not hesitate to punish abuse of trust in the strongest terms,” the judge said.
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