(Jamaica Gleaner) A second paternity test has all but concluded that the Kingston pastor who is facing criminal charges for repeatedly having sex with a 12-year-old girl is the father of her infant child, Gleaner sources have revealed.
According to sources, the test has revealed that “there is a 99.999 per cent chance that pastor Kenneth Blake cannot be excluded” as the child’s father.
The test was requested and paid for by Blake, pastor of the Harvest Temple Apostolic Church, located on Slipe Pen Road, and reportedly conducted earlier this month by Caribbean Genetics, based at The University of the West Indies.
Blake made the request in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in April this year after the first paternity test, which was conducted at the government forensic laboratory, also concluded that there was a “99.99 per cent” chance that he could not be excluded as the father.
He argued at the time that the test conducted by the government lab was tainted.
Able-don Foote, the attorney representing Blake, told The Gleaner that he had no comment on the latest development.
Blake is scheduled to go on trial on March 4 next year in the Home Circuit Court in downtown Kingston.
The alleged victim, who is now 15 years old, gave birth to a boy on November 30 last year.
Blake, 56, has been charged with rape, forcible abduction, grievous sexual assault, sexual touching, and sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years old.
Gifts To Keep Her Quiet
The Gleaner first reported that he was arrested in August last year by investigators from the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse.
The charges were filed after the child gave investigators a detailed statement in which she accused Blake of having sex with her at his St Andrew home in 2015 when she was 12 years old.
It is alleged that during the first encounter, the clergyman forced himself on the child after giving her older sister money to “buy some things” downtown.
Following this, according to the girl’s account to investigators, he began rewarding her with gifts to keep quiet about their sexual encounters.
However, Blake has denied the allegations and insisted in court that it was part of an extortion attempt by the mother of his accuser.
