A Catholic Bishop aged 70, has been charged with two counts of rape against a female under the age of 16.

Staffordshire Police say the charges against David James Oakley, the Bishop of Northampton, follow his arrest in September last year. The offences are alleged to have taken place in Staffordshire between February 2000 and February 2001, the force said.

Oakley, 70, is due to appear at Cannock Magistrates’ Court on 14 August. He was 45 years old when the incident allegedly occured.

In a statement, the Catholic Diocese of Northampton – which covers Northamptonshire , Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire – confirmed the charges against Oakley “after an investigation into non-recent safeguarding allegations”.

It said it recognised the case was “very distressing for all concerned”, but could not comment further due to active legal proceedings.

According to the diocese, Oakley was born in Stourbridge in the West Midlands and was ordained in 1980.

He served in several parishes within the Archdiocese of Birmingham before becoming Bishop of Northampton in 2020.

Oakley was also a front runner to become leader of the Catholic church in England and Wales at one point.

….Said she was forced to bury him herself

A victim of kidnapping in Zamfara state simply identified as Aisha, recently narrated a heartbreaking account of the suffering she and her infant son endured while in the custody of armed bandits operating in the state’s forests.

Speaking about the traumatic experience in a post, Aisha revealed that her infant son died during their captivity after falling ill and being denied access to medical care. The grieving mother said the bandits initially refused to allow her to bury the child and instead threatened to feed the remains to their dogs.

According to her account, she repeatedly pleaded with the kidnappers to show mercy and allow her to give her son a proper burial. After persistent begging, the bandits reportedly threw a spade at her and ordered her to bury the child herself in the remote forest where they were being held.

“I begged them not to feed my son’s body to their dogs,” Aisha recounted emotionally. “After much pleading, they threw a spade at me and told me to dig the grave myself.”

The devastated mother said she was forced to bury her son with her own hands under the watch of armed men, describing the experience as one of the most painful moments of her life.

Aisha further disclosed that conditions in captivity were extremely harsh, with victims often suffering from hunger, disease, and physical exhaustion. Many captives, she said, were forced to trek long distances through dense forests while under constant threat from their abductors.

Her testimony has once again drawn attention to the worsening security situation in parts of northwestern Nigeria, where bandit groups have continued to carry out kidnappings, attacks on communities, and other violent crimes despite ongoing military operations.

Human rights advocates and security analysts have described Aisha’s account as a stark reminder of the humanitarian crisis facing thousands of victims and families affected by banditry across the region. They have renewed calls for stronger security measures, improved victim support systems, and intensified efforts to dismantle criminal networks operating in rural areas.

The incident has sparked widespread outrage among Nigerians, with many expressing sympathy for the grieving mother and demanding justice for victims of bandit violence. Authorities have yet to release an official statement regarding the specific circumstances surrounding Aisha’s captivity, but security operations against armed groups in Zamfara and neighboring states remain ongoing.

A United States-based Nigerian social worker, Akeatha Diane Akintola, has been sentenced to five months’ imprisonment for stealing more than $17,000 in Social Security benefits meant for a disabled child placed under her care in Washington State.

A statement issued on June 18 by the US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington, that Akintola, 48, pleaded guilty to theft of public funds after unlawfully diverting $17,638 intended for a minor with intellectual disabilities.

The department stated that Akintola was taken into custody immediately after her plea and sentencing hearing before Magistrate Judge Kate Vaughan.

The statement noted that at the sentencing hearing, Vaughan condemned the offence, saying she was struck by the fact that Akintola had targeted a vulnerable victim.

It noted that court records showed that Akintola became a social worker for the Snoqualmie Tribe in January 2023 and later applied to become the Social Security Representative Payee for a minor child under the tribe’s care.

The statement added that the child’s mother had died, leaving survivor benefits for the child with a prohibition for social workers from serving as representative payees for children under the tribe’s care.

The statement noted that despite the prohibition, prosecutors said Akintola used the child’s Social Security number and her information to secure the appointment and redirected the benefits into a bank account she controlled.

The attorney’s office stated that she spent the funds on personal expenses, including purchases at a retailer in North Bend, Washington.

The statement read in part, “In September 2023, Akintola applied by telephone to be the Social Security representative payee for a minor child with intellectual disabilities who was a ward of the tribe.

“The Tribe prohibits its social workers from becoming a representative payee for any child under its care. Nevertheless, Akintola used the child’s Social Security number and her own to apply to be the minor child’s representative payee.”

The US noted that the theft was uncovered in July 2024 when Akintola accompanied her supervisor to the Social Security Administration to inquire about the child’s missing benefits.