A local pastor was arrested on Monday 4 April after allegedly kidnapping, raping and assaulting three young girls from Wedela. The pastor had been

doing crusades around Merafong and was recently in Wedela. Two of the victims, aged 17 and 18 years of age respectively, attended the tent crusade.

After the parents of the 17-year-old expressed concern about her behavior, the pastor suggested that she should move in with him and his wife in Carletonville while he provided spiritual counselling. He allegedly developed a sexual relationship with the teenager before becoming abusive. Shortly afterwards, the pastor also convinced his victim’s 18-year-old friend to move into the house for church purposes. It was not long before the two girls allegedly realised that the pastor was sexually exploiting them and they decided to run away. The pastor, meanwhile, convinced their friend to help him find them. She contacted them and managed to establish that they were hiding in Krugersdorp. The pastor allegedly persuaded the driver of a Toyota Tazz to let him use his vehicle to find and pick up the girls. He took the third friend along and, when the victims recognised her they had no reason to believe they had been set up. As they approached, the pastor appeared and allegedly ordered them into the car at gunpoint. He took all three back to his house in Carletonville where he allegedly raped and brutally assaulted them. The pastor was arrested after the third victim managed to escape and inform the police. The police searched the house and rescued the naked girls from the blood-stained room. The pastor appeared in court on 7 April and was denied bail in his application on 12 April. He has been charged with two cases of kidnapping, three counts of rape, two counts of assault (GBH), two counts of pointing of a firearm and possession of an unlicensed firearm.