South African-Nigerian pastor,
Timothy Omotoso, has been found not guilty of rape after spending Eight years behind bars in a South African prison.
Omotoso was accused of raping young women in his South African church.
He had severally denied the 32 counts charges in a trial that was broadcast live and gained huge interest across the country and the world.
In 2018, one witness told the court she had been raped by the pastor who ran a church in the city of Port Elizabeth – when she was 14 years old.
Delivering the verdict on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, the presiding judge said that Omotoso had been found not guilty because prosecutors had mishandled the case.
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) shared a similar assessment, saying that “former prosecutors in the case acted improperly and the accused were not sufficiently cross-examined by the state.
