The Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha, South Africa on Wednesday acquitted popular Nigerian televangelist, Tim Omotosho of all charges bordering on rape.
The court held that the state prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the 66-year-old Nigerian pastor was guilty of the charges levelled against him.
Omotosho has been facing legal battles for the past eight years that saw him jailed in South Africa for alleged rape and sexual assault.
The senior pastor of Jesus Dominion International Church had faced 32 charges, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
However, the presiding judge, Irma Schoeman faulted the handling of Omotosho's case by the prosecution.
Schoeman acknowledged that Omotoso’s explanations were “improbable”.
The judge held that the burden of proof had not been met, leading to the acquittal of the pastor and his two co-accused.
Omotoso was arrested in 2017 amid accusations that he handpicked young women from his congregation and coerced them into sexual acts under the guise of spiritual guidance.
Some of the women who testified against him were members of a gospel music group he had founded called Grace Galaxy, while others were still in school at the time of the alleged incidents.
