When a female member of the Crown Power Ministry International at Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra, accepted her head pastor’s invitation to visit her at home, little did she know she was in for the most bizarre sexual assault she could ever imagine. Pastor Stephen Addy Powell allegedly sedated his victim, shifted her panties to one side, and licked her vagina, under the pretext of exorcising an evil spirit in his victim's stomach.

Pastor Addy is currently before an Accra Circuit court, answering charges of sexual assault.

Stephen Addy Powell allegedly went into the room of the complainant, and in the process of offering prayers for the victim sedated her by rubbing a handkerchief containing a sedative on her face, and proceeded to sexually assault her.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge of indecent assault, contrary to section 103 (2) (a) of act 29/60, when he appeared before an Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Mrs. Georgina Mensah-Datsa.

The court admitted him to bail in the sum of GH¢8,000 with one surety, to reappear before the court on October 11, 2011.

Narrating the facts of the case before the court, the Prosecutor, ASP Sarah Acquah, told the court that “the accused person removed his handkerchief from his pocket and shook it on the complainant's face, the complainant became dazed and the accused person took advantage of that and shifted the complainant's pant and started licking her vagina.”

This, the prosecutor indicated, followed a request from the accused person for the complainant to lie down flat to enable him remove something spiritual from her stomach.

According to ASP Acquah, Pastor Addy Powell called his victim on her cell phone, which number he took from a friend and a witness in the case, and subsequently informed her about the vision he had, concerning the victim's marriage.

“On April 15, 2011, at about 4:30.p.m., the accused person collected the complainant's cell phone number from a witness in the case, who happened to be a friend of the complainant, and the accused person,” the prosecutor told the court.

“The accused person asked the witness and one other to accompany him to the complainant's house. When they reached the complainant's house, the accused person told the witness to wait outside for him, so as to be with the complainant alone in the room,” ASP Acquah narrated.

The prosecution further stated that while in the room with the complainant, the accused person started praying for the complainant, and in the process, asked the complainant to hold him tight, because the evil spirit behind her problems was in the room.

ASP Acquah also told the court that the complainant gained consciousness later, and started struggling with the accused person, adding that the complainant subsequently informed the witness, and a complaint was lodged with the police.

The prosecution said during investigations, the complainant produced a recorded conversation between her and the accused person after the act. The accused person was later arrested, and after investigations, was charged with the offence.