Man jailed 100 years for child defilement now blames ex-girlfriend

A children's home director serving a 100-year  jail term for defiling underage boys has blamed his former girlfriend for his woes, saying she fabricated accusations and convinced the children to speak against him.

While defending himself in a fresh defilement case involving 13 under-age boys, Stephen Nzuki Mutisya urged Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi to acquit him on all the charges, saying he was fixed by his three-month girlfriend Bridgit Dernendtte Bridgit, a Swiss national.

"I never defiled the boys whom l loved so much. I could not and even now l cannot defile children placed under my care for mentorship and spiritual guidance," Mr Mutisya, 30, said amid sobs.

Led in his testimony by defence lawyer John Swaka, he said the mastermind of all the defilement cases against him was his estranged girlfriend.

He accused Bridgit of hatching a plot to ensure he rots in jail and claimed the children were coached to give false testimonies against him, with the promise of studying in good schools.

The lawyer asked, "Is it your testimony that the mastermind of all these cases is Bridgit, your former girlfriend?"

The accused said, "Yes, she is.”

Mr Mutisya’s cries forced the lawyer to suspend his evidence under oath for a few minutes so he could calm down.

The accused faced the wall in the dock, crying uncontrollably as he explained that Bridgit fixed him to take over the management of his Save the Children Reconciliation Education and Assistant Mission (Scream), which is based in the Mihago area of Kayole, Nairobi county.

"I am in this predicament because of my fallout with my former girlfriend, Bridgit, who roped in the International Justice Mission (IJM) to frustrate me and ensure l rot in jail, to take over Scream," he told the court.

He told Magistrate Ochoi that the woman vowed to ensure he was sentenced to a long term in prison on false charges of defiling the children.

"After soul-searching, the boys have since returned to the police to withdraw the lies saying they cannot live with the guilt of fixing their former mentor and helper," Mr Mutisya stated.

Sworn defence

Giving a sworn defence, Mr Mustiya produced later authored by IJM, asking the police to arrest and charge him for the alleged defilement.

According to the letter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), IJM requested the security agency to arrest Mr Mustiya for prosecution.

"Police arrested me as a case study after their three-month training on curbing serious crimes and rights violations against women and children. I am a victim of both IJM and Bridgit,” he said.

Further, the serving convict disclosed that he fell out with Bridgit after establishing she was having an affair with a 16-year-old boy at the home.

He claimed he caught the woman with the boy after he was tipped off about their illicit affair by two other children at the facility.

Upon confronting Bridgit, he said, she owned up, saying 16-year-old boys in Switzerland are assumed to be old enough to decide whether or not to have an affair with a woman of their choice.

Mr Mutisya said he had been living with Bridgit in his seven-bedroom house in Utawala.

He added that they parted ways also because he was dating another Swiss woman named Emel Gose Gobul. He also said he chased yet another Swiss woman from the country after finding her kissing a 14-year-old boy.

"I used to protect the children from these randy women, who claimed to be donors and volunteers, only to end up engaging in illicit affairs with innocent young boys at my organisation,” he said.

He said that in a further set-up, his two former girlfriends incited donors, mainly in Switzerland and Germany, against directly funding the children’s home.

"Emel and Bridgit, in the month of April 2013, agreed to send the money directly to the account of Bridgit instead of the accounts of the organisation, thereby disrupting the operations," he said.

Besides the current case, Bridgit and IJM instigated a similar defilement case against Mr Mutisya at the Makadara Law Courts.

Regarding that case, he said the boys are not willing to testify and that some ran away from safe homes and returned to Scream.

Mr Mustiya was last year jailed for 100 years after being convicted by another magistrate over a similar defilement case.

In all the cases, he is alleged to have committed the offences between 2010 and 2016 while being the proprietor of the children’s home.

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