Pastor rapes three at gun point

Woman shows scars she got from a pastor while raping and assaulting her and friends

"The pastor pushed me to the bed at gunpoint and said we must perform a 'free' pornographic movie to make my friends jealous. He put his fingers inside my genital. I pleaded with his wife to make him stop." This was a harrowing experience of one of the three girls who spoke to Sowetan of how she and her friends were kidnapped by a rogue Carletonville pastor who also raped and assaulted them in his house.
They spoke exclusively to Sowetan at the weekend about their eight hours of hell. On the night of April 3, the gun-toting pastor took turns raping them after assaulting them with a baton and a wire in the bedroom while his wife watched TV in the lounge.

During the ordeal, the pastor threatened to shoot them and murder their families should they attempt to flee. Two of the girls are 17 and 18 years old and are members of the pastor's church in Wedela township in Carletonville, South Africa.

The third victim is a 25-year-old friend of the two teenagers. "He brought me into the room and said we must have a threesome. We refused. He forcefully penetrated me with his fingers and once he was aroused he proceeded to rape my two friends who were bleeding from being assaulted."

Earlier the pastor had locked the room and forced the girls to strip naked. "We pleaded with his wife to help us. We could hear her laughing. He forced me to watch as he raped each of them at gunpoint. I prayed to God to spare our lives," said the 25-year-old who shook as she described their experience.

 "My family was all I could think about as he was raping me. My body had been numbed from all the physical pain I had endured from him," said the younger girl. They said at some point the pastor looked insane and was rambling on about how he'd kill them. The pastor panicked and released the older woman after her family called and threatened to send the police to his house.

 Police were later sent to the house where they rescued the two girls and arrested the pastor. The pastor faces three counts of rape and assault, two of kidnapping and one of pointing a firearm. The girls' parents had hoped that he would help the girls with their personal problems. He also promised to give them jobs and spiritual guidance. But he soon turned into a monster.

 "He would hit me with his fists and then lock me in the bedroom for days," the younger girl said. Earlier this month the two teenage girls escaped from the pastor's house and fled to Krugersdorp. He used their older friend to track them down. He brought all three back to his house where he allegedly assaulted and raped them.

 "This horrific incident has broken our family. We trusted him with our children only to learn that we were feeding a sex-hungry monster. I've lost faith in church leaders," said the mother of one of the victims. The victims are receiving psychological help and police are preparing them for the court case.

Congregants of the church headed by the alleged sex-pest pastor have been left in the lurch. Sowetan visited the place where the tent church once stood, on an empty field in Wedela township, Carletonville, and found out that it was dismantled a few days after locals heard that the pastor was linked to the assault and rape of three girls from their neighbourhood.

 "The church has been dissolved indefinitely. Everybody is shocked at what he did. We are angry at him and don't want anything to do with him anymore," said a former church member. Another former congregant said the church had about 50 members and a few of them had since joined a nearby church led by the pastor's mother.

 "We accepted that he practised polygamy [but] why he would rape still baffles us," said the former congregant. Sowetan visited the pastor's house in Carletonville and saw a truck loaded with tents and a fence parked outside. His wife did not want to comment immediately. "I know what happened. We will call you and give comment," she said on Thursday.

She never called back and her phone remained off yesterday. The incident shocked the people of Wedela. "I know those girls. They like going to parties but that doesn't mean they deserved what happened to them. The perpetrator should be removed from society, " said one of the girl's neighbours.

Warrant Officer Peter Masooa confirmed that the pastor was charged with three counts of rape and assault, two of kidnapping and another of pointing a firearm. The court rejected his bail application and he will be back in court next month.