Nigerian Pastor based in the UK, who sexually abused children for 20 years

UK Based Fake Cherubim and Seraphim Pastor Convicted of Multiple Rapes with Wife’s Help. A Cherubim and Seraphim Nigerian Pastor based in the UK, Michael Oluronbi, who sexually abused children and adults for over 20 years, has been convicted of raping members of his congregation.

 The 60-year-old Birmingham based pastor and self-styled Nigerian prophet were found guilty of 15 counts of rape against seven victims, five of whom attended his church in Birmingham and London. Oluronbi, who also worked as a pharmacist, “had such a hold over the congregation that anything he said was taken as read”, said police.

 The cleric carried out some of his offenses after convincing followers and their children to take part in naked “spiritual bathing”, which he claimed would “cleanse” them of evil spirits. According to BBC, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said those abused fell under the “influence and authority the defendants held and honestly believed their actions were on God’s behalf”. The abuse of one boy and six girls started when they were children, one as young as eight, and for some, continued into adulthood. It began after Oluronbi, originally from Nigeria, set up a splinter group to the Cherubim and Seraphim Church at a private home in Birmingham. “Spiritual baths” would take place in an upstairs bathroom, a pretext for sexual abuse ranging from an indecent assault during “washing” to rapes afterward, the court heard.

The children were often made to wear red sashes as he carried out the abuse. Three of the four who became pregnant had multiple abortions, which police said often happened after Oluronbi booked them into clinics under false names. The abuse went on for years until one victim came forward to police. Oluronbi was arrested in May 2018 at Birmingham Airport as he tried to flee the UK.

During the trial, a jury heard some young female victims became pregnant multiple times but were taken to abortion clinics by Oluronbi and his wife to cover up what was happening during a campaign of abuse that started in the 1980s. Four of the girls fell pregnant and when they did, Oluronbi and his wife arranged for a paid abortion or Michael would administer the drug himself.