A 45-year-old man has been charged with showing pornographic videos to minors.
Tom Kidemi who was arrested on May 17, was Friday charged with 20 counts of child pornography.
Kidemi, a father of six, was accused of showing pornographic movies to children aged between 12 and 14 with the intention of making them engage in sexual acts. He allegedly committed the offence at his home in Railways estate, Nakuru County, in March this year.
He was also charged with forcing children to engage in sexual acts, promoting child prostitution, promoting child pornography and promoting sex among children. Kidemi denied all the charges before Nakuru Resident Magistrate Wilson Kitur.
He allegedly locked up the children in his house as they watched the movies and forced one child to touch the private parts of another during the show.
According to the children who confessed to the police, the man used to gather them at his house after school and late comers were fined Sh10 each.
One of the children who is mentally challenged indicated that she was forced to have sex with a boy while the others watched.
Through his lawyer, Kidemi applied to have the court release him on bond with an alternative cash bail. He said he will attend court whenever required.
The prosecution however asked the court to detain him in custody as investigations were still ongoing. The prosecution said more complaints are yet to be filed in court as more people were opening up.
“This is a matter of public interest which requires keen handling. The accused if released on bond will interfere with witnesses. We wish to apply that he be held in custody as investigations are still pending,” said the prosecutor.
The court ordered that the man be remanded at Nakuru Central Police Station for five days as police conclude investigations. The court also directed that he be taken to hospital to test his HIV status.
The case will be mentioned on March 24 to set a hearing date.
