NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 24 – An American preacher was charged on Wednesday with trafficking in pornographic materials in Nairobi.
Thomas Manton of Dominion International Ministries however denied the charges at the Kibera Law Courts and was remanded until Friday.
The charges stated that: “On February 25, 2009 at Runda Estate in Nairobi, for the purpose of or by way of trade or for the purpose of distribution or public exhibition, the accused made or produced obscene publication, one compact disc, tending to corrupt morals.”
The offence was listed as having been committed in February.
The prosecution urged the court to deny him bail because police were “still carrying out investigations on the preacher’s activities.”
Mr Manton was arrested on Tuesday night by Central Police Station officers who handed him over to their counterparts in Kilimani where he spent Tuesday night.
Police said they arrested the preacher after a woman claimed she had spotted some photos she took with Mr Manton on the internet.
A senior police officer told Capital News that some of the photographs will be presented in court as evidence.
Pastor Manton’s case comes at a time when the Catholic Church is fighting to reclaim its image following allegations that one of its priests here in Kenya Father Renato Kizito is involved in child pornography.
The revelations were made by a local television which says it is in possession of damning images of the priest and some of the boys under his case who have accused him of sodomy.
Fr Kizito has however, dismissed the claims and argued that the said photographs are the work of sophisticated video editing techniques.
The renowned clergy man is currently under police investigations.
Deputy Police Spokesman Charles Owino Wahong’o told Capital News that “investigators are still going through statements of the boys who have accused the priest of sodomy.’
The priest maintains the scandal is the work of his former trustees who are plotting to take over his properties.
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