MASVINGO - A Chivi pastor who attempted to sodomise a teenage boy appeared before a Chivi magistrate yesterday.

Tafadzwa Mutani,31, a Salvation Army pastor, was hauled before magistrate Francis Mapfumo facing charges of attempting to sodomise a 19-year-old boy (name withheld).

The boy was shocked when he woke up in the middle of the night to see the pastor fondling his private parts.

The pastor had allegedly persuaded the boy to sleep without his boxer shorts saying it was not healthy claiming it caused men to be impotent.

Prosecutor Nickson Chamisa said on February 17, this year at Salvation Army Church at Ngundu, invited the boy to sleep at his house saying he was lonely and wanted someone to share stories with that night.

The court heard the pastor started asking the boy if he had feelings and a girlfriend.

They then allegedly went to sleep in his bedroom and asked the boy to share his bed with him.

The boy woke up after he felt some caressing, only to see the pastor fondling his private parts.

The pastor had his shorts dropped to knee-level with his manhood erect.

The pastor embraced him upon seeing that he was awake and kissed him several times on the mouth before attempting to be intimate with him.

The boy resisted the advances. He later alerted his father who stays in the vicinity through mobile phone text message.

The father allegedly sent a colleague to rescue his son and subsequently reported the matter at Ngundu Police Station the following morning, leading to the pastor’s arrest.

The pastor is denying the charges. He is being represented by Collen Maboke of Mwonzora and Associates.

He was remanded in custody to April 3, for trial. - Godfrey Mtimba