Fr Kizito arrested over fresh sodomy claims by his secretary

By CYRUS OMBATI

Catholic priest Father Renato Sessana Kizito was arrested and questioned over new allegations of sexual abuse.

This is the second time the Italian missionary was being questioned over claims of sodomy of boys under his care.

A 26-year-old man has recorded a statement with police claiming he had been sexually abused by the priest at the Comboni Missionaries in the city.

Fr Kizito leaves Kilimani Police station for medical checkup on Thursday. He was arrested for allegedly sodomising a 26 year-old man who was his secretary. [PHOTO: COLLINS KWEYU/STANDARD]

The priest was on Thursday taken to a police doctor for more tests.

"We want scientific proof to confirm or refute that he did (what the complainant says) and that is why he has been taken to the doctor for tests," said Kilimani OCPD Bernard Muli.

The complainant

The complainant claimed the alleged crime was committed on May 24, at the missionary offices. The complainant has been a personal secretary to Fr Kizito for more than four years.

Details on how the alleged crime took place were scanty. After he made the claims to police, he was taken to the hospital where, according to Muli, preliminary findings showed there was anal penetration.

Police tried to arrest him on Wednesday night in vain after he refused to come out of his Comboni house. The officers went there Thursday morning and he surrendered before he was driven to Kilimani Police Station.

At the station, about a dozen youth tried to harass journalists who were covering the event.

About three other people whom witnesses said are priests also visited him at the station.

When he was being moved from the police cells to the police doctor, Kizito told journalists he did not know why he was being held.

"I don’t know why I am here," he said. He was dressed in a white sweater and blue jeans with a pair of open shoes.

Appearance in court

He was put in the boot of a police car and driven away. Muli said if there is further supporting evidence, the priest might appear in court today.

Kizito’s lawyer Mutuma Kibanga said he would first establish what the complainant had recorded with the police before making any statement.

In 2009, the Catholic priest was accused of sexually molesting young boys under his care. He denied the reports and termed them as a "case of blackmail, defamation and extortion".

"I am ready to face anyone with evidence," he had told reporters at a news conference at the time.

The priest, who has worked in Kenya for over 20 years on charity mission, dismissed a news item that had been aired on television showing a video footage of him with the boys.

"I have not and I have never sodomised any child ever in Kenya or anywhere else. Let me state very clearly that I am ready to face anybody who can prove to the contrary," Kizito had said. An investigation report by police later cleared him of any wrongdoing. Catholic bishops then promised to investigate the claims against Kizito and take action if the accusations were found to have merit.

The priest blamed the slur campaign on an attempt to wrestle the Sh3 billion charity organisation’s assets from his control.