75‑year‑old leader and pastor of Back to Eden Church Ministry Iowane Vakadranu has been sentenced to 14 years 2 months imprisonment.
Vakadranu raped two members of his church between 1st October, 2012 to 31st August, 2014 in Labasa and Tailevu.
High Court Judge Justice Vincent Perera had earlier found Vakadranu guilty of four counts of rape.
While sentencing Vakadranu today, Justice Perera said that Vakadranu had persuaded the victims to leave formal education to take advantage of their ignorance.
The judge told Vakadranu that he conditioned the minds of the victims systematically over time so that they could believe everything he said.
Justice Perera also told Vakadranu that he took the victims away from their families to rape them.
He said that this is pre-planned deception and a breach of trust.
Vakadranu who is a father of four, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment but his sentence was set at 14 years 2 months as he has already been in custody for 10 months.
The non-parole period has been set at 12 years 2 months.
