Controversial televangelist Gilbert Deya was acquitted of child trafficking charges on July 14, 2022.
According to Milimani senior principal magistrate Robison Ondieki’s ruling, the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
On August 4, 2017, Deya was deported to Kenya from the UK to face child theft charges.
Deya had been charged with five counts of stealing five children, all aged under 14, between 2002 and 2004, at Mountain View Estate, Nairobi.
He denied all five counts – through his lawyer John Swaka Deya said he was maliciously charged with the same offense that his wife was charged with.
The preacher had churches in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool, and Manchester.
Deya, in the news reports claims he was ordained as an archbishop by the United Evangelical Churches of America in 1992 – and his wife Mary claimed their prayers could make infertile and postmenopausal women become pregnant in four months and without intercourse.
However, prosecutors said the “miracle babies” were stolen, mainly from Nairobi’s poor neighborhoods. They presented 26 witnesses before the courts.
Deya’s acquittal has been met with mixed reactions. Some people have expressed relief that he has been cleared of the charges, while others have expressed disappointment that the prosecution was not able to prove its case.