US missionary charged with sodomy in Kenya

Police said Hotchkiss committed an unnatural offence with a man on April 9 in Uhuru Park in downtown Nairobi.

A Kenyan court charged a 70-year-old Catholic missionary from the United States on Tuesday with sodomy in a Nairobi park.

HT Image

"I am not guilty," Andre Hotchkiss told the court.

Police said Hotchkiss committed an "unnatural offence" with a man on April 9 in Uhuru Park in downtown Nairobi.

Homosexuality is outlawed in Kenya, as in many parts of Africa.

The complainant, Paul Gathogo Kamau, an unemployed 33-year-old, told the court he wanted to withdraw the case after realising the accused was "a man of God".

But Chief Magistrate Aggrey Muchelule rejected that and ordered a trial to begin on July 3.

"This matter is a serious offence and I will not allow for the withdrawal of the charges," he said.

The missionary was released on a cash bail of 300,000 Kenyan shillings ($4,216).