Pastor Gilbert Deya, who claims he can help infertile couples get babies through prayer, has been arrested on sexual assault charges.
Deya, 61, is charged with three counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, and one count of sexual assault by touching an underage girl.
The Associated Press notes that Britain’s Home Office could not immediately answer why Deya is still in Britain, since he lost a legal battle two years ago against extradition to his native Kenya to face kidnapping charges.
In 2004 the Gilbert Deya Ministries website claimed that the organization was “the fastest growing Ministry in the UK and worldwide.”
After praying for infertile couples at, self-proclaimed archbishop Deya sent them to Kenya in order for them to deliver their ‘miracle babies,’ which were then brought back to England. One of the women involved claimed to have had three babies — on as many separate occassions — in one year.
An investigate report broadcast in 2004 on BBC Radio 4€²s Face the Facts (listen) noted that when British authorities tested one of those babies, its DNA did not match either of its supposed parents. In addition, the Kenyan birth certificate was found to be a forgery.
Kenyan authorities want to prosecute Deya for stealing and trafficking children.
His wife, Mary, has already spent 3 years in jail in Kenya for stealing a baby. However, she was acquitted, for lack of evidence, of charges of stealing five other children.
Gilbert Deya will remain in custody at least until a preliminary hearing on 8 November.