Curacao Pastor Gets 9 Years in Prison for Sexual Assault on Teens, Young Women

By Janene Pieters
NL Times
July 6, 2017

http://nltimes.nl/2017/07/06/curacao-pastor-gets-9-years-prison-sexual-assault-teens-young-women

Lady.jpg Lady Justice (Picture: Twitter/@danvelton). Lady Justice (Picture: Twitter/@danvelton)

The court on Curacao sentenced pastor Orlando B. to nine years in prison for sexually assaulting three teenage girls and four young women. The court also banned him from working as pastor for 14 years, NOS reports.

The Public Prosecutor demanded 18 years in prison and a professional ban of 20 years against the man. He was charged with sexually assaulting a total of 10 women and girls. In three cases he was acquitted.

B. is the founder and leader of the Rains of Blessings church. According to the Prosecutor, he raped girls under the ruse of an exorcism. He frightened them by saying that there were demons in their bodies and that he would wake them if they reported him.

The allegations of sexual abuse refer to incidents dating back to 2003. Late in 2015 one girl was brave enough to report what happened. After that, reports started streaming in. The youngest victim that came forward was 11 years old when the abuse started. There are ten more allegations of sexual abuse against the pastor that did not form part of this trial.

During the trial, B. called on his right to remain silent. According to the court, he showed no hint of compassion for his victims, let alone expressed regret.