The Court of Appeal has reduced the prison sentence of a Wakiso District pastor convicted of aggravated defilement from forty years to twenty-nine years, six months and three days, finding that the trial court had placed excessive weight on factors unrelated to the core offence.
Kimera Elijah James, the founder and head of Faith Center Church of All Nations in Lusanja, was convicted in March 2024 by High Court Judge Margaret Mutonyi after he pleaded guilty to performing unlawful sexual acts on a 16-year-old girl who was a member of his church choir. The offences were committed between March and April 2020 in Kabwoko, Kiteezi in Wakiso District.
The judgment, delivered on 30th March 2026 by Justices Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Ketrah Kitariisibwa Katunguka, and Cornelia Kakooza Sabiiti, dismissed all of Kimera’s challenges to his conviction but agreed that the original sentence was unduly harsh.
How the Abuse Unfolded
According to court records, Kimera exploited the COVID-19 school closure period to gain access to the victim and her sister. He approached the victim’s mother and requested that her two daughters, who participated in the church choir, be allowed to attend choir practices. On several occasions, the girls were permitted to spend nights at the church.
Investigations later revealed a disturbing pattern of sexual exploitation. Kimera had previously been in a relationship with the girls’ mother, whom he declined to marry. He subsequently began a sexual relationship with the elder sister, aged 21, and then with the victim, who was only 16 years old.
The victim’s medical examination confirmed she had been sexually active and tested HIV positive. Her elder sister also tested positive. Medical examination of Kimera confirmed he was HIV positive, 32 years old, and of normal mental status. The HIV infection of the victim was treated by the court as a significant aggravating factor in the case.
The Guilty Plea
Kimera initially pleaded not guilty when the case commenced. However, following a court visit to the scene of the crime, he changed his plea to guilty. The trial judge carefully followed established legal procedure, warning him that the offence carried a maximum penalty of death before recording his admission.
On appeal, Kimera raised six grounds, including claims that his guilty plea was obtained under duress from his own trial lawyer, that procedural irregularities during the scene visit tainted the proceedings, and that he had been denied adequate legal representation. The Court of Appeal dismissed all these arguments, finding no evidence on the record to support the coercion claims and noting that the complaints about legal representation were raised for the first time on appeal, constituting what the court described as a “mere afterthought.”
Sentence Reduced
While upholding the conviction entirely, the appellate court found merit in the argument that the original 40-year sentence was excessive. The justices observed that the trial judge had placed disproportionate weight on Kimera’s sexual relationships with the victim’s mother and elder sister, matters which, while relevant background, were not the subject of the specific charge.
Citing previous Court of Appeal decisions where HIV-positive offenders convicted of aggravated defilement received sentences ranging between 21 and 25 years, the court substituted the 40-year term with 30 years imprisonment. After deducting the five months and twenty-seven days Kimera had spent on remand, his effective sentence stands at twenty-nine years, six months and three days, running from his conviction date of 26th February 2024.
