New bail bid: Convicted 'sex pest' pastor claimed victim's mother tried to extort money from him

'She knew about my previous conviction and said she would charge me for rape if I did not give her R5 000 a month to take care of her child'

- YOSHINI PERUMAL

IN A FRESH bid for bail, a convicted “sex pest” pastor — accused of the rape and sexual assault of an 11-year-boy from his congregation — claimed that the child’s mother had falsely accused him of rape after she failed to extort money from him.

Sitham Baram Michael Andrew Chetty, 54, who ran a church from an outbuilding in Bayview, was accused of raping the boy on multiple occasions from September 2024.

He had abandoned his bail application in March.

Last Thursday, in a new bail bid, Chetty appealed to the court to release him.

Chetty, who received a three-year suspended sentence after he was convicted of sexually assaulting another minor in May 2019, told the court he had lost his job as a pastor since his arrest in March.

In his affidavit presented in court by his attorney, Priyanka Naicker, Chetty claimed that the boy’s mother had falsely accused him of rape after she failed to extort money from him.

“The victim was a member of the congregation at my church. I am acquainted with his family and I have known them for a lengthy period. His mother was an alcoholic, and she abused her children and husband.

“The husband left her and the children to start a new life. He said he would take the children later on. I asked the victim’s mother to go for counselling because I was aware of the alleged abuse. The boy's father asked me to keep the boy with me until he could create a home for him. I fed and supported him.

“On March 2, after church, I notified the mother that the father would take responsibility for the children and that a social worker would oversee the transition. She became enraged and said she would make sure that I am put behind bars if I give the child to anyone else. The victim came to my home with his mother to ask for food and money.