Mpumalanga pastor John Philane Masilela.

• A Mpumalanga pastor has been handed a 55-year prison sentence for raping teenage boys and young men in his church.
• John Philane Masilela committed the crimes between 2012 to 2018.
• He would pray for his victims by touching and fiddling with their private parts under the pretext of preventing them from leading immoral lives. 

A Mpumalanga pastor who raped teenage boys and young men in his church, under the pretext of praying for them, has been handed a 55-year prison sentence after being convicted of four counts of rape and seven of sexual assault.

John Philane Masilela, 46, committed the offences between 2012 and 2018 when he was a pastor at the Good Shepherd Church. His seven Victims were aged between 17 and 26. 

He was sentenced in the KwaMhlanga Regional Court on Monday.

According to Mpumalanga National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa, Masilela portrayed himself as a prophet of God at his church in Suncity, KwaMhlanga.

Nyuswa said Masilela would pray for his victims while touching their private parts, under the pretext of preventing them from leading immoral lives. 

"He told the victims that he could see their future and had received instructions from God to pray for them in that manner," Nyuswa said.

"He also told them that if they refused (that he fiddle with them), bad things would happen to them."

In 2020, however, all Masilela's  victims came forward and laid charges against him.

He was arrested and pleaded not guilty, claiming his victims had consented.

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However, prosecutor Bianca Harmse led testimonies of seven victims, who told the court how Masilela would quote scriptures from the Bible and claim that, in order to protect them from being with the wrong woman, he needed to pray for their private parts by touching or sucking them. 

"Some of the victims even broke down and became emotional when testifying. The State submitted that the accused abused his power as a pastor and used the victims' faith in God and religion to break down any resistance they showed, to sexually violate them for his lustful pleasures," Nyuswa said.

"Magistrate Merlene Greyvenstein found the accused to be a sexual predator amongst the youth of his congregation. 

"She found the accused to be a blatant liar who told his victims that bad things would come their way should they not comply with his instructions. 

"The court found the acts of the accused to be disgusting and that he claimed to be a Christian, yet he saw no wrongdoing in touching or sucking their penises to prevent them from immoral acts."

Harmse also presented a victim impact statement in court, which detailed how the incidents had affected the victims.

Greyvenstein sentenced Masilela to 10 years imprisonment on each of the four counts of rape and five years imprisonment on each of the seven counts of sexual assault.