A minister of religion accused of abducting five women and forcing them to have sex with him and his friends, was remanded in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

Uroy Hylton and co-accused Norman Rowe, were denied bail by Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown, who said he wanted to read the file himself before deciding whether to offer bail. Hylton is charged with three counts of conspiracy to rape, three counts of rape, dealing in obeah, practising obeah and abduction. Rowe is charged with conspiracy to commit rape.

A cult

The court heard that Hylton met one the the accused women in April last year while she was in a taxi. The complainant became friends with Hylton and went to live with him at his house in Spanish Town, St Catherine where she met four other women living there. The complainant alleged that she was told that they were part of a cult and that Hylton was a minister of religion and that he practised obeah.

Verbally abused

It is alleged that the complainant became afraid based on what she saw but was threatened with death and was physically and verbally abused to force her not to leave. The court also heard that Hylton threatened to sacrifice a male friend of the complainant. In addition the accused allegedly instructed her and the other women to go and get a child to sacrifice.

Hylton it was further heard, burned the complainant with cigarettes and ganja. The women were also allegedly forced to have sex with Rowe, who is alleged to be Hylton's friend. The women were also forced to have sex with Hylton's other friends.

However Hylton's attorney told the court that his client suffers from oesteomylitis for the past 10 years and when he was in the lock-up he was beaten causing him to suffer more pain. He also said in addition to being a minister at a church in St Mary where his father is the bishop, Hylton operates a sports bar, a modelling agency and is a party promoter. He said the statements from the complainants were contradictory and proves there was no case against his client.

Supernatural powers

In addition, the attorney alleged that each of the women prior to going to live with the accused, were involved with Hylton. He also said his client did not have any supernatural powers and performed a few magic tricks, which gave the impression that he did. One such trick was to use kerosene oil and match sticks to make it appear that fire was coming out of his mouth.

Despite the attorney's pleas for bail, they were denied and he was told by RM Brown to take medical proof of his client condition to court on the next date on January 13.