By Lincoln G. Peters
Rape:-The Senior Pastor of the House of Jesus Christ located upper Benson Street, Caldwell, Rev. Jackson Zarbay, has been sentenced at the Monrovia Central Prison for allegedly raping a 12-year-old minor who was taken to his Church for spiritual deliverance.
Pastor Zarbay was charged with the commission of the crime of statutory rape in violation of Section 14.70(1)(a)(I)(b) of the New Rape Law of Liberia.
On 11 March 2022, the victim’s mother (name withheld), reported to the Women and Children Protection Section of the Liberia National Police at Zone 7 base and alleged that her 12 years old daughter was sexually abused by Pastor Zarbay.
The complainant alleged that her daughter was taken to Pastor Zarbay for deliverance on 10 February following which the incident allegedly occurred.
According to the charge sheet, the complainant narrated that her daughter called via phone and narrated that on 9 March 2022, Pastor Zarbay carried her in his school building (Christ Foundation Institute), in one of the classrooms and told her to take off her clothes.
The victim allegedly narrated that in the process, the suspect also took off his clothes and lied over her.
The charge sheet revealed that during separate interviews with the victim, she narrated to the investigators that her aunt carried her to Pastor Zarbay’s Church for spiritual deliverance.
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” Pastor Zarbay wasted something inside my eyes and prayed for me and after praying, he told me that we should go [to] the school building so he can test me,” the victim is quoted by police as saying.
“When we went inside the school building, Pastor Zarbay followed me and he took off my clothes and lied to me on the bench and he sexually abused me by inserting his penis inside my vagina,” the victim is said to have explained.
She maintained that Pastor Zarbay had sexually abused her three different times all at night hour. She claimed that the first was in one of the classrooms, the second time was in the principal’s office and the last time was in one of the classrooms.
The victim further said that Pastor Zarbay used to spray her eyes and give her garlic water to drink when she was taken there for deliverance.
She revealed that on March 9, Pastor Zarbay followed her inside the school building and he told her to take off her clothes, held her mouth and wanted to sexually abuse her.
But she claimed that she fought him and ran away from the Church and went to her aunt.
The victim’s medical report from Star of the Sea Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) One Stop Center showed that her hymen is intact, which supports her assertion that he attempted to sexually abuse, her but did not succeed.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/house-invites-gender-justice-pharmacy-board-over-rising-rape-cases/
