The lead pastor of the Jesus Dominion International church, Timothy Omotoso, had such control over his accuser that she could not speak out about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered at his hands.
This was part of state witness Cheryl Zondi’s evidence in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday during the second day of intense cross-examination by Omotoso’s defence attorney, Peter Daubermann.
Zondi, 22, a second-year marketing student at the University of Johannesburg, told the court that when she returned to the church in 2015 after initially leaving it in early 2013, she had told Omotoso that she did not like what he was doing and asked him why he did those things to her.
“[Omotoso] said there was no other option,” Zondi said.
“I had to do what I was doing to please him and God.”
Pushed further for an answer by Daubermann, Zondi said she did not ask or tell Omotoso to stop the alleged sexual assault because she was too scared to do so.

Zondi told the court Omotoso had such an intense hold over her that she could not escape him even after being away from the church for two years.
“[That] is so improbable that it can’t possibly be true,” Daubermann told Zondi.
A confident Zondi replied: “It is a difficult case so I can understand if you are frustrated.”
Zondi first became involved in the church in 2009 at age 13.
The following year, she attended a national meeting hosted by the church in Durban when, she said, the alleged sexual assaults began.
“He groomed a 14-year-old to be his sex slave. I followed his instruction,” Zondi said...