A Mombasa-based imam, 47, was on Wednesday charged with defiling a 14-year-old boy in a mosque.

Malau Ahmed Malau appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo, where he was formally accused of defiling the minor in contravention of Section 8(1) as read with Section 8(3) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006.

The court was told that the offence occurred on April 28, 2025, “inside Mwijabu Mosque in Mvita Sub County within Mombasa County,” according to a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

The minor is reported to have escaped from his father’s home in Moyale to visit his mother in Mombasa, only to find that she had travelled to Garissa on the same day. Alone and without shelter, the boy sought refuge at the mosque.

“The minor borrowed a mobile phone to call his mother, who had traveled to Garissa earlier that day,” the ODPP said.

It was then that he encountered the imam, who allegedly offered him food and a place to sleep within the mosque — a gesture of hospitality that prosecutors claim turned into four nights of sexual abuse.

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“The suspect accommodated the minor in his room located on upstairs of the mosque only to sodomize him for the four nights they stayed together,” read part of the ODPP’s statement.

The boy’s mother, alarmed by news of his escape from Moyale, reportedly returned from Garissa and, with the help of relatives, traced him to the mosque. There, the boy is said to have confided in his family about the alleged ordeal.

The imam pleaded not guilty, and was released on a Ksh.500,000 bond with a surety of a similar amount.

The matter was scheduled for mention on May 27, 2025.