THE Kingston pastor/principal who was in April convicted for raping his receptionist/teacher on the job in 2014 wept after being handed a 15-year and one-month sentence by Supreme Court judge Justice Annmarie Lawrence Grainger on Friday.

The pastor, whose name is being withheld by the Jamaica Observer to protect the identity of the victim and the school, is to serve 12 years before being eligible for parole.

He had been convicted in early April, following an eight-day trial which began on March 22 before a judge and jury.

In the allegations outlined by the prosecution the complainant, who was 24 years of age at the time of the incident, met the pastor/principal who headed a small educational institution in the Corporate Area, while on a job hunt.

According to the woman, she went to his school to make inquiries on a day in 2013 and was made an offer by him the same day to come on board as a receptionist/teacher.

She told the court that on a day in January 2014, whilst she was at work, her employer, who is a married man and who had made several advances to her, dragged her into the kitchen at the premises and had sexual intercourse with her without her permission and without a condom.

The pastor/principal, in an unsworn statement from the dock, however, denied that he raped the woman and maintained that he had sexual intercourse with her, but with her permission.

A character witness for the pastor/principal said she “knew him for many years and he was a stern man”.

Friday the convicted man, during the sentencing address by the judge, was highly emotional, calling upon God throughout, while his victim looked on teary-eyed.

The judge, in outlining the aggravating factors, said he had, among other things, abused his position of trust as the young woman’s employer.