Bukoba priest arrested in US over prostitution

Dar es Salaam. A Catholic Church priest from Bukoba Diocese assigned to an east Mesa church in the United States is among five suspects arrested by police in an operation that targeted suspects of prostitution involving under-age girls.

He was arrested on Friday after Mesa police detectives posed as 16-year-old girls and advertised their services on a website known for trading in prostitution.

A statement released by the police said, men were supposed to come to a Mesa motel at a predetermined time to meet with prostitutes for sex.

Reached for comment yesterday, Bukoba Diocese Bishop Desderius Rwoma admitted to have received reports of the arrest of Fr Solomon Bandiho. He said, the priest was in the US for doctoral studies.

However, Bishop Rwoma desisted from commenting on the issue pending confirmation of the incident. “I can confirm to have heard about the arrest but I cannot comment further because we are yet to check and establish what actually happened,” he told The Citizen over the phone.

According to Mesa police, when the men agreed to have sex with the supposed prostitutes, even after being told they were 16, police arrested them on suspicion of child prostitution.

Detective Steve Berry, a Mesa police spokesman noted that the suspects include Fr Bandiho, 49, who is listed on the Holy Cross Catholic Church’s website as the east Mesa church’s parochial administrator.

The other four suspects were identified by police as Mr Eric Mohren, 34; Mr Christopher Sherman, 48; Mr Jose Flores Nunez, 31 and Mr Santiago Robles, 26.

“When you have people who are willing to prey upon our juveniles, those are some of the worse people in our society,” Berry said.

He said someone who is willing to have sex with a 16-year-old might be willing to victimize even younger children.

Rob DeFrancesco, a spokesman for the diocese, said the diocese learned about Fr Bandiho’s arrest on Friday afternoon. Bandiho’s faculties as a priest have been removed, meaning that he is barred from public ministry, he said. Other priests will be available at Holy Cross to say Mass and perform other ministerial duties.