Pastor sentenced to 20 years for raping girl in church

A pastor who raped a 15-year-old schoolgirl in a church in May Pen, Clarendon in 2012 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Thirty-two-year-old, Oraine Ellis, was sentenced yesterday, a month after he was convicted in the Clarendon Circuit Court by a seven-member jury. 

Ellis has one previous conviction for carnal abuse.

In handing down the sentence, Justice Nicole Simmons said she took into account the fact that the minimum sentence for such an offence was 15 years.

She also said Ellis did not learn from the four years he spent in prison for carnal abuse.

The judge told the accused pastor that he breached the trust of the complainant therefore she had to give him a stiff prison sentence.

The Crown Counsel Kelly-Ann Boyne led evidence that the girl went to church one Sunday in April 2012 to get some solace.

Ellis prayed for her after which the girl said she felt safe. 

The complainant testified that the next day, Ellis called her and she went to the church where the pastor raped her. 

The distraught girl reported the incident to a neighbour. 

When residents later learned of the incident, they held the pastor until the police came for him.

In an unsworn statement from the dock, Ellis said that the girl came to the church on the day in question, but he did not have any sexual contact with the her.