A 63-year-old cleric, Chris Douglas, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja for raping a church member’s daughter.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Rahman Oshodi held that Douglas, who is the General Overseer of Peculiar Generation Assembly Church in Oshodi, abused his position of spiritual authority and the trust placed in him to exploit the victim.
The court described his conduct as a grave betrayal, noting that he was regarded as a father figure by both the victim and her family due to his role as a spiritual leader.
“The convict occupied a position of spiritual authority and was regarded as a father figure by the victim and her family,” the judge stated.
Justice Oshodi further held that instead of safeguarding that trust, the cleric “betrayed it in the most reprehensible manner.”
The court found that the offences occurred in a hotel on several occasions, adding that the victim and her family had relied on him for spiritual counsel before the abuse took place.
