VOINJAMA: Police in Lofa County have charged and sent to court a 25 year-old Pastor identified as Momo Sannoh for allegedly sexually assaulting two 13 year-old girls in Lofa County.
Pastor Sannoh of the Winner’s Chapel Lofa County branch in Kolba City, Kolahun District, was charged with statutory rape and sexual assault by the Liberia National Police Lofa County detachment recently.
According to information gathered by the LINA Correspondent, one ot the two girls are cousins who lived with Pastor Sannoh and his wife in Kolba City.
The information gathered from the Police also revealed that one of the girls was often encouraged by the Winners’ Chapel Pastor to have sex with him whenever his wife left home to transact business in neighboring Guinea.
The victim explained to the Police that Pastor Sannoh gave her some new lappas to encourage her in the act.
She narrated to the Police and her parents in Kolba City that while her aunt, the Pastor’s wife, was in Guinea for business transaction, the Pastor called her in his room and forcibly sexually abused her.
According to the LINA Correspondent, the other girl also believed to be 13 years of age, also told Police that Pastor Sannoh was also in the constant habit of encouraging her to go to bed with him whenever she went to their house to visit.
After she was raped, the victim complained of severe stomach pain, and later complained him to her parents about the sexual abuse.
The case was later taken to the Gender Section of the LNP for investigation, and medical reports affirmed that the girl was tampered with in the private parts.
Pastor Sannoh was subsequently charged with statutory rape by the LNP and forwarded to the Kolahun District Magisterial Court to be transferred to the 10th Judicial Circuit Court in Voinjama City, where he is expected to face trial.
Meanwhile, both girls are currently with Lofa County Gender Coordinator, Mr. Alexander Kollie, undergoing both medical treatment and trauma counseling.
The growing incidents of rape in Lofa County have been widely condemned, and citizens, residents and rights groups have continued to call for tougher punishments for convicted rapists.
