By Grace Q. Bryant
The House of Jesus Christ Pastor, Jackson Zarbay, has been sent to the Monrovia Central Prison for allegedly raping a 12 years old girl in Upper Caldwell.
Pastor Zarbay was charged for the commission of statutory rape which is a violation of Section 14.70(1)(a)(I)(b) of the New Rape Law of Liberia.
The House of Jesus Christ in Upper Caldwell pastor is also charged with criminal attempt against the victim which also is a violation according to Section 10.1 of the Penal Law of Liberia.
According to the narrative, on March 11, the survivor’s mother reported to the women and Children Protection Section of the Liberia National Police at zone 7 base and alleged that her 12 years old daughter was sexually abused by Pastor Zarbay.
She averred that her daughter was take to Pastor Zarbay for deliverance on February 10 by her aunty but to her dismay her daughter called her via phone and told her that on March 9, Pastor Zarbay carried her in one of the classrooms of the Christ Foundation Institute, and instructed her to take off her clothes while he got undressed and laid his body over hers.
The charge sheet revealed that during separate interviews with the survivor, she told the investigators that the acclaimed deliverance pastor wasted something inside her eyes and began offering prayers for her and that it was during that exercise he told her that they should go into the school building so that he would test her.
She also explained while in the school building, Pastor Zarbay inserted his penis inside her vagina thereby maintaining that the pastor sexually abused her on three different times and all were during the night hours as on two occasions, he abused her in the class room while on one occasion it was in the principal’s office.
The survivor reiterated that she was taken to Pastor Zarbay for deliverance but he used to spray her eyes with something strange and gave her garlic water to drink.
She revealed that that on March 9, which was the third attempt, Pastor Zarbay followed her inside the school building and he told her to take off her clothes while he held her mouth but as he tried to sexually abuse her, she fought him and ran away from the church and went to her aunty where she reported the ordeal.
The survivor’s medical report from Star of Sea SGBV one stop center showed that her hymen is intact which support her assertion that he attempted to sexually abused her but did not succeed while it reported further that the hymen- healed blunt laceration, circular, vagina- small white discharge and Anus/ Rectum – Muscle close firm.
