Bishop jailed for 75 years for defiling three girls appeals sentence

A bishop convicted to 75 years for defiling three girls and infecting one of them with HIV has appealed against the sentence.

This is the second time Rev. Joseph Agutu (pictured) is appealing against such a sentence.

He successfully challenged a 20-year conviction with similar charges in 2013.

In his appeal, the bishop listed seven grounds he is seeking to rely on to have the appellate court overturn the decision by the lower courts.

He has leveled a number of accusations against the trial magistrate who convicted him last month, including claiming that the magistrate erred in law by failing to observe that the case was shoddily investigated.

Agutu has questioned the sentence imposed on him, saying it is not commensurate with the crime committed.

In her ruling last month, Resident Magistrate Pauline Mbulika handed the bishop 20 years each for the first three counts of defilement and 15 years for deliberate transmission of HIV. The sentences are running concurrently.

He had been accused of committing the offences between April and July 2016. One of the girls is aged 14 while the other two are 15.

The bishop had reportedly promised to sponsor the minors' education before he started defiling them.

In the suit, the court heard that Agutu took advantage of the teenagers and defiled them before they were rescued by an uncle who called the police.

The court heard that the bishop shared a room with the three girls.

The grandmother of one of the minors also narrated to the court how the bishop called her to ask if her grandchild would turn up to meet some sponsors.

“We spoke with him on the phone and he told me that he had helped many children and added that he would take my grandchild to Kisumu.”

Another minor told the court the bishop defiled her four times.

Agutu denied all the allegations.

In her ruling, Mbulika said medical reports indicated one of the minors had been infected with HIV.

In his appeal however, the embattled bishop claimed the evidence used against him in the lower courts was from members of the same family, which he says amounts to “single evidence”.

In 2013, Agutu got a sigh of relief after the High Court in Kisii overturned a conviction he was handed after a magistrate’s court found him guilty of defiling a 15-year-old girl.

He was also running an orphanage at the time and the girl had reportedly gone to seek sponsorship, according to court records.