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Nigerian pastor Michael Oluronbi and his wife Juliana have been sentenced to a total of 34 years in the UK for sexual offences involving six women and a man.
Over two decades, Oluronbi exploited children and adults, convincing them to participate in “spiritual bathing” rituals he claimed would cleanse them of evil spirits.
Oluronbi received a 34-year prison sentence for multiple r^pes of his congregation members, being found guilty of 15 counts of r^pe, seven counts of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault.
His crimes included at least 88 instances of rape. The Birmingham Crown Court revealed that some victims became pregnant multiple times, with Oluronbi taking them to abortion clinics to cover up his abuses.
Juliana Oluronbi was sentenced to 11 years for aiding and abetting rape, as she helped arrange the abortions. Both will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Oluronbi was connected to the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, which has Nigerian origins. He had established his own splinter group, where he began his so-called “spiritual bathing.” The jury learned that the offences occurred in both Birmingham and London.
Sentencing “arrogant” Oluronbi on Friday, Judge Buckingham said:
“You claimed that God was instructing you to conduct holy baths. Its real purpose was to fulfil your insatiable sexual appetite. The children feared you and this enabled you to continue your grip. Your offending has had an extreme and severe impact on all of your complainants. Any attempt to suggest otherwise would be without foundation. You abused your position of trust – they trusted you like God.”
The judge continued:
“You did this because you are an arrogant, selfish and vain man. In my judgment, your offending must be one of the worst cases of sexual abuse of multiple children to come before the courts.”
When confronted about his offences, Oluronbi said “The devil made me do it”.
Phil Bradley QC, prosecuting, told the jury:
“The Crown’s case is that Mr Oluronbi used what he called ‘spiritual work’ as a subterfuge for that sexual abuse. The main tactic he employed was to claim that God had instructed him to administer ‘holy baths’ to some of his congregation in order to ‘cleanse’ them and protect them from evil influences. That activity began when his victims were children. There can be no doubt that its real purpose was to serve his sexual gratification.”
He added that for some of the female victims the offending “progressed to repeated rapes, on many occasions leading to unwanted pregnancies and terminations”.
“You will learn that this man, who was revered and feared by his victims, kept a vice-like grip on many of them and continued to abuse them well into adulthood.”
The victims described him as “controlling” and “almost like a king”.
Oluronbi was arrested in May 2023, at Birmingham Airport while trying to leave the UK for Nigeria.
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