By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
The 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Kakata, Margibi County presided over by it assigned Judge Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay is today, Wednesday January 5,2022 expected to begin the trial of the Phiiadelphia Church senior Pastor, Apostle D. Franklin Snorton for allegedly raping a young woman.
The case was due to have started on Tuesday January 4, 2022, but it was postponed because of a reason beyond the court’s control.
Rape is a second degree felony and it is a nonbailable crime in Liberia. President George Manneh Weah last year declared rape a “national emergency”, amid an upsurge of the act in the country.
The Liberian National Police in Kakata sent to court a senior Pastor Snorton to court on August 23, 2021, after being charged with the crime of rape in violation of Chapter 14.70 of the New Penal law of Liberia.
According to the 21-year-old survivor, she went to pay their contribution of ten United States dollars they were told to collect as a community to repair their electricity transformer, when the pastor told her to sit with him in his living room, in order to write her name in book where other names were written for record sake.
The survivor said when she entered and sat in the living room of the Pastor, the pastor said he forgot about pen and out to find and upon his return, he decided to play with her breast and kissing her. But she pushed him aside and later went for knife to stab her if she refused him.
Thereafter, the pastor threw her on the ground and sexually satisfied his desire as it was premeditated, she claimed.
While committing the act, Pastor Snorton is said to have told the survivor that he had been behind when she used to go draw water from his fence and she been resisting him prior to her getting pregnant.
The Pastor is said to be married to an Indian woman, but she is abroad after undergoing breast cancer surgery.
Apostle Snorton turned himself over to the Police in Kakata, following a complaint filed in by the survivor parents accusing him of allegedly sexual harassing their daughter.
Philadelphia Church
In late August last year, the Philadelphia Church Ministries International Inc. (“PCMI”) expressed deep concerns and disappointment over the news of the alleged rape of a young lady by one of its Senior Ministers, in person of Apostle D. Franklin Snorton.
“The leadership of PCMI says Apostle D. Franklin Snorton is the Senior Pastor of the Philadelphia Church In the City of Kakata, Margibi County, Republic of Liberia. He has served as a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for over thirty (30) years with the Philadelphia Church Ministries and remained in good standing up until the alleged rape allegation. The Church says the news of the alleged rape, whether true or not, is unsettling because rape is unchristian and represents a betrayal of the trust reposed in a man of God to cater to God’s children who are entrusted to his care to nurture and teach in the ways of the Lord,” a statement from the Church said.
Rape is a second Degree felony.
Chapter 14:70 of the New Penal law of Liberia states that:
- 14.70. Rape. (ONLY FOR OFFENSES COMMITTED ON OR AFTER JAN 17, 2006.)
- Offense. A person who has sexual intercourse with another person (male of female) has
committed rape if:
(a)
- (i) He intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus, mouth or any other
opening of another person (male or female) with his penis, without the victim’s
consent; or
- (ii) He/She intentionally penetrates the vagina or anus of another person
with a foreign object or with any other part of the body (other than the penis),
without the victim’s consent.
(b) The victim is less than eighteen years old, provided the actor is eighteen years of age or older.