Suspected serial defiler arraigned in Kisumu court

 

In a case of a caregiver turning predator, a 53-year-old man allegedly took away the innocence of young girls, repeatedly defiling them at his home in Kisumu’s Manyatta slum after luring them with money.

His crime spree ended on Sunday when he was arrested after four girls said he had been repeatedly defiling them together, in a bizarre revelation that has left residents of Manyatta shocked.

Joel Etale Ang'okho, alias Omwami, is said to have been luring two of the children – aged nine - to his house with money, ranging from Sh20 to Sh100.

Once inside the house, he would threaten them with a knife, warning them against informing anyone of his monstrous acts.

Someone tipped off the authorities about the crimes and police follow up the cases, said Francis Ayieya, who works at the chief’s office in Kosawo Hall 

“We found the defiler, who confessed to the crime and said it was not the first time he was doing that,” Mr Ayieya said.

When the suspect was being held at the chief’s camp, he allegedly admitted that the children tempted him by going to his house.

“It is these children who started playing with me in my house and also complaining of how their parents were struggling to make ends meet, leaving them to sleep hungry,” said Mr Ang’okho, a caretaker at a residential building.

He said he often gave the girls money, ranging from Sh20 to Sh100, and would sleep with the four of them in the same bed, defiling them at the same time.

One of the parents spoke to the Nation and said she realised something was wrong when her daughter’s teachers alerted her that she was coming to school with a lot of money.

Pressed further by their parents and teachers, the girls revealed that the accused had been defiling them when they left school as they would often pass by his house.

Calm and unfazed

“My girl told me that the perpetrator used to tell them to strip naked and bathe in the veranda as he watched them before sexually assaulting them one after another,” she said.

A girl who was preyed on said she was lured to Mr Ang’okho’s house with money after she saw her friends in school spending on food every day while she did not have any money.

“We usually call him uncle Omwami. Any time we cry and want to share what he does to us with our parents or teachers, he threatens us with a knife,” she said.

“Because we fear him, we never shared this with any adult but he used to do this to us every day, with the last time being last Friday.” 

When Mr Ang’okho appeared in a Winam court, he looked calm, unfazed, staring blankly at Senior Resident Magistrate Joseline Mitei.

Donning a sports T-shirt and white baggy trousers with poorly done turn-ups, he stood confidently and denied the four charges levelled against him.

In the first account, he is charged with defilement contrary to sections of the Sexual Offences Act.

He is alleged to have committed the crimes on diverse dates in June when he defiled two nine-year-olds. He faces the alternative charge of committing an indecent act with a minor.

Mr Ang’okho was released on a Sh200,000 bond with a surety of the same amount.

The case will be mentioned on July 15, followed by the hearing. Prosecutors have lined up five witnesses to testify.

The accused is still under investigation following reports that there were more victims of his bizarre acts, said Humphrey Wawiri, a children’s officer with an organization called Key to Life. 

The other two girls, aged six and seven, are yet to undergo medical tests and investigations are underway before they are presented in court and more charges added to Mr Ang’okho’s charge sheet.   BY DAILY NATION