More charges for woman in sex case

By Willis Oketch

A woman in Mombasa suspected to have persuaded her underage daughter to have sex with an elderly Belgian man has been charged with benefitting from child prostitution.

Ms Sidi Charo had last week been charged alongside Allain Perniaux, 59, for sexual molestation but on Tuesday prosecutors added the charges.

Mombasa Senior Resident Magistrate Timothy ole Tanchu last week released her on Sh500,000 bond.

However, she has been detained at Bamburi Police Station since July 17 after she failed to raise the bond.

On Tuesday, Charo denied the new charges that on diverse dates between 2010 and July this year, she permitted her daughter, 12, to have sex with Perniaux.  Tanchu allowed consolidation of the cases after prosecutor Paul Makonge successfully applied for it.

On Tuesday, Perniaux’s lawyer Vincent Omolo successfully applied for reduction of the bond from Sh1 million to Sh500,000, saying the suspect could not raise the initial amount.

Omolo claimed his client could not abscond because he had deposited his passport in court. He added Perniaux couldn’t flee because Belgian embassy is aware of his legal problems. When he was first arrested on July 17, police set him free on Sh40,000 bond. He then appeared in court on July 18. The court, however, overturned the police bond and imposed the Sh1 million cash bond, which he could not raise and has been in police custody since July 18.

Financial gain

“He should be given hefty bail with a Kenyan surety since he is a foreigner and I am afraid he might jump a cash bond,” argued the prosecutor.

Perniaux was arrested at an exclusive neighbourhood in Serena, Mombasa after neighbours and guards raised the alarm. He was charged with having sex with a minor. He is accused of sexually assaulting the 12-year-old pupil in collusion with the girl’s mother for financial gain.

Perniaux has lived in Kenya for two years in the Serena neighbourhood, which is dominated by affluent Western pensioners.

His trial resumes this morning.