Bishop accused of rape remains in custody

Nov 14, 2017 News

Bishop Joseph Persaud, the self-styled bishop who has been accused of raping one of his female church members, remained behind bars yesterday afternoon as the cops prepare to send the file to the Director of Public

Bishop Joseph Persaud

Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
Persaud, who was heading a church at La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), was arrested on Thursday at his Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) home. He is being kept in the lockups at the Diamond Police Station.
A woman, who once shared a three-year relationship with the suspect, has accused him of sexual assault. Reports are that the woman ended the relationship with the Bishop after his wife found out but he refused to leave her. He allegedly called and stalked her.
The victim claimed that the Bishop recently forced himself on her at his Diamond home when his wife was away—this is what caused her to report him.
Kaieteur News was informed that a number of other women have accused the pastor of making sexual advances towards them but none came forward to report the matter.
According to reports, the pastor had a “special” way in which he would approach his victims. A police source said yesterday that based on the information they gathered, the Bishop would offer counseling sessions to depress women.
It was during these sessions that he would make sexual advances towards them. A woman, who lives a short distance from the Church, said that she stopped going about three months ago because there were a series of allegations against the pastor.
In fact, she pointed to one of her neighbours to whom the pastor made sexual advances, but that individual was not at home when this newspaper visited the area.
When the Bishop was arrested, he made a call to his victim which confirmed the report she made against him. In the recorded telephone call released by HGPTV Nightly News, he could be heard pleading with his victim to drop her report since it will damage his reputation. He even told the woman that he would not call or stalk her anymore.
“Would you come to the station and drop this matter? I let go of you; there is no more me and you anymore. You can go your way for free… I’ll make a paper with the JP (Justice of Peace) today; I will no longer call you or look in your direction—not a text or a message to you.”

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