A 28-year-old man alleged to be a pastor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for allegedly sodomizing young male school children.
Naija News learnt that the convict had received the innocent kids from their poor parents after he had assured them of their wellbeing at a school where he heads.
Didas Mpagi, alias Bakulu, is said to be a married man with kids. Reports revealed that he engaged the children in the disgusting act while he was their headmaster at Real Infant Primary School in Wakiso District of Uganda.
Investigations into Bakulu’s crime commenced after residents raised an alarm, informing the police of the punishable act by the then teacher.
It was established that Bakulu was not only a headmaster at the school, he was also a warden for the male pupils.
Naija News understands that at the time, the convict was also revealed that he was sleeping in the same dormitory with his victims who were all male and that he sexually exploited them at night.
It was revealed during the sentencing of the said pastor on Friday, October 8 at the International Crimes Division of the High Court (ICD) Uganda, that he had committed the offences between 2018 and 2019.
The court judge, Justice David Wangutusi said Bakulu was found guilty of six counts of aggravated trafficking in children and six counts of aggravated defilement.
He said the young man would spend the rest of his natural life behind bars for sodomising the innocent children.
Bakulu preaching at his Church
Further revelation on the investigations revealed that Mpagi cherry-picked his victims from families who were economically weak. He is said to have targeted them to stay in the boarding section of the school for his own carnal pleasures, promising to get them sponsors and scholarships.
Prosecution further told court that once the children were in his school and dormitory, Bakulu would threaten to stop paying their school fees or cancel their scholarship if they did not obey his commands.
“The victims revealed that they were required to spend some nights in the accused’s bed and whilst there, the victims were required to sleep naked. The accused would massage their bodies, including the penis. The accused would then fondle the genitals of victims with his fingers, and thereafter he would practice oral and anal sex on them,” the indictment reads in part.
Prosecution contended that Bakulu held out monetary benefits with the intention of making his victims submissive and sex slaves.
It further said the school teacher who was found to be of sound mind, created a sense of insecurity among his victims. When the police conducted a search at his home, a number of pieces of evidence were found. These included lubricating gels, creams, love letters from the victims, assorted documents, techno mobile phone, flash disk, among other items.
“I have considered the submissions of both counsels. The convict is indeed a first-time offender, he is a married man with children. These are important in mitigation and should be considered so. Court also noted that he has been on remand for two and a half years but that notwithstanding, the offences of trafficking and aggravated defilement are grave and convicts shouldn’t be handled with glove fingers,” the judge said.
The judge added: “The accused was the custodian of these children. He had received them from very poor families whom he had given assurance that the children would be looked after properly. Parents were happy that they had got a fees relief not knowing that they had handed their children to a defiler.
“Instead of giving the children what was expected of a teacher, the convict took upon himself to rubbish them, causing injury and permanent trauma. Such should not be left in the circulation of people’s sons if they are to be safe.”
The court judge upheld that a teacher who smears the government that the syllabus of the school includes lessons on kissing, just to cause the children to give into his sexual exploits calls for a sentence that will be deterrent to others who may have intentions of sexually exploiting minors.
He said: “I sentence the convict on each and every count from 1-12 to imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. These sentences to run concurrently,”
Wangutusi, however, said the convict has 14 days window to challenge his decision in the Court of Appeal if he’s not satisfied.
This article was originally published on Naija News