Bishop Gilbert Deya to know his fate today in child theft case
A Nairobi court, presided over by Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Robison Ondieki, is set to deliver its judgment in a case involving Bishop Gilbert Deya, who stands accused of stealing five children.
Bishop Deya maintains that the state fabricated the charges without any evidence. The preacher, who was deported from the United Kingdom to face the child theft charges, denied all five counts leveled against him by the state.
The clergyman requested the court to acquit him for lack of evidence, arguing he was being unfairly targeted, as his wife had previously been charged with the same offense but was acquitted.
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During cross-examination by senior state counsel Nicholas Mutuku, Bishop Deya vehemently denied stealing the children and stated that he was in the UK at the time of the alleged offenses. He further insisted that he did not give any instructions to anyone to house the five children in his residence in Nairobi.
Bishop Deya claimed that the charges against him were malicious and intended to tarnish his reputation as a “man of God.” He emphasized that, at the time of the alleged offense, he was based in the UK, where his church is located.
On September 19, 2022, Senior Principal Magistrate Robison Ondieki determined that Bishop Deya has a legal obligation to address the charges against him. Magistrate Ondieki found Bishop Deya accountable for five separate counts of stealing children, all below the age of 14, which occurred between 2002 and 2004 in the Mountain View estate in Nairobi.
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This verdict comes 11 years after a Kibera Court convicted his wife, Mary Deya, and sentenced her to three years in prison for the theft of a baby on September 10, 2005, from Kenyatta National Hospital. Mr Deya also provided false information to Dr James Kiarie, falsely claiming that she had given birth to the child.
Bishop Deya, who professed the ability to facilitate miraculous pregnancies, is now facing five charges of child stealing. His trial commenced on August 4, 2017, following his extradition from the United Kingdom.
It is alleged that Bishop Deya committed these offenses in collaboration with others at his residence, specifically house number 226 in Mountain View, during the period spanning May 20, 2002, to August 19, 2004. However, Bishop Deya vehemently denies these allegations.
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