BY SILAS NKALA
A pastor with the Glory Temple Pentecostal Church in Zvishavane has been slapped with a four-year jail term for bedding a 14-year-old juvenile.
Although Destiny Govera had pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before Zvishavane provincial magistrate Shepherd Mjanja, he was convicted on Tuesday on the basis of the evidence presented.
The magistrate then sentenced him to four years in jail, but one year was suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.
The court heard that on March 3 this year, Govera and the girl attended a church service close to the juvenile’s home in Zvishavane.
After the church service, she shared some of her problems with the pastor who then offered to pray for her at a prayer mountain.
The two then proceeded to the mountain where on arrival, the pastor proposed love to the girl before he started fondling her breasts and caressing her private parts. The girl tried to restrain him, but she later accepted intimacy after the pastor gave her $4.
The matter surfaced at a prayer service when the girl threw a Bible on the table without greeting anyone, prompting her prayer mates to probe her. She revealed to them what had happened and a report was made to the police.
