Tue, 10 Mar 2020
In a case described by the Judge as “one of the worst cases involving sexual abuse of multiple children to ever come before the Courts”, a revered Pastor has been sentenced following a ten-week trial prosecuted by Phil Bradley QC from No5 Barristers’ Chambers, leading Jim Dunstan from St Philip’s Chambers.
During the trial, Phil Bradley QC told jurors that what the pastor called “spiritual work” was really a ruse to commit sexual abuse.
He added, "The Crown's case is that Mr Oluronbi used what he called 'spiritual work' as a subterfuge for that sexual abuse. The main tactic he employed was to claim that God had instructed him to administer 'holy baths' to some of his congregation in order to 'cleanse' them and protect them from evil influences.
"That activity began when his victims were children. There can be no doubt that its real purpose was to serve his sexual gratification. For some of the female victims, the offending progressed to repeated rapes, on many occasions leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations".
Oluronbi’s 59-year-old wife, Juliana Oluronbi, was convicted of three counts of aiding and abetting rape after helping to arrange a number of abortions for victims.
Oluronbi had set up a splinter group of a Christian church, the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, in Edgbaston, Birmingham. A family member of one of his victims confronted him last year and managed to record an on-camera confession. In it, Oluronbi claimed that the devil made him carry out the attacks. At trial he nevertheless maintained his innocence, telling the Jury that he had been bullied into the confession.
Following a nine-week hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, the Jury found the self-styled prophet guilty of 15 counts of rape, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault. The sentence hearing heard that there were at least 88 separate occasions on which he raped his victims. Several of his child victims became pregnant and Oluronbi, a qualified pharmacist, forced them to have abortions.
Oluronbi, of Orchard Drive, Longbridge, Birmingham, was jailed for 34 years. His wife Juliana, of Walker Road, Walsall, was sentenced to 11 years. Both will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for life.
To read more about the case, visit: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2020/03/06/paedophile-pastor-jailed-for-34-years-over-20-years-of-sexual-abuse/
