Pastor’s resignation lifts lid on alleged past sexual misdemeanours

DIMAPUR — Following the recent resignation of a senior pastor of Fathers’ House Church in Chümoukedima amidst allegations of molestation, the Asia Harvest Alliance (AHA) has released a statement clarifying their involvement with the former pastor.

It has emerged that the pastor at the centre of controversy, Robert Kikon, was asked to step down from his post and renounce his church membership on September 19. A letter from the church board cited “immoral activities” but did not elaborate on the specific allegations leading to his resignation. Neither the church nor any alleged victim has come forward publicly.

The AHA statement, released on Thursday, maintained that while Kikon is not currently a member of their organisation, and therefore falls outside their jurisdiction, they had interacted with him in the past.

“Robert Kikon was a member of AHA when it was conceived in the beginning, since 2016. From 2017 he, along with the members and leaders of his church participated in the conference activities of AHA till 2019. However, he ceased to associate with AHA as a member, along with the church after our annual conference held in 2019 in Dimapur,” the statement read.

The AHA clarification also noted that in 2017, some leaders of AHA received reports alleging that Kikon had been sending inappropriate texts to individuals regarding homosexual tendencies. Taking these reports seriously, several leaders confronted him face-to-face to discuss the allegations. During the meeting, Kikon stated that he had struggled with these issues in the past but claimed to have repented, received counselling, and overcome them, and the meeting concluded with AHA offering him counselling support whenever needed.

“It is important to clarify that the 2017 case did not involve any minors, juveniles, or molestation charges,” it stated.

Further, the AHA stated that reports of similar behaviour surfaced again in 2019. In response to these new allegations, AHA leaders organised a second meeting with Kikon, this time requesting the presence of leaders from Fathers’ House Church. During this meeting, AHA asked Kikon to step down from the AHA council and offered counselling support. They also urged church leaders to take appropriate action and keep AHA informed of any developments, it maintained.

Following the 2019 meeting, it said that Kikon “by his own will,” ceased communication and participation in all AHA activities, and Fathers’ House Church also withdrew from involvement with the organisation. The AHA emphasised that none of the reports they received in either 2017 or 2019 involved minors or allegations of physical molestation.

With regard to the recent allegations, the AHA maintained that it had no further contact with Kikon or the church until September 19 this year, when Fathers’ House Church reached out for guidance following the emergence of new allegations. Subsequently, on September 24, the AHA council met with church leaders and agreed to provide advisory support.

“However, it was communicated that AHA would not deal directly with Robert Kikon, since he is not our member. We recommended that the church board must deal directly and officially with Robert Kikon, and AHA would provide counsel and advisory help to the church,” it said.

Acknowledging the sensitive nature of the situation, AHA urged all parties to exercise patience and refrain from making inflammatory statements as the situation continues to unfold.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, officials of the Social Welfare department, currently investigating the matter, declined to comment on specifics, stating that the case is ongoing and the team is already engaged. However, they assured the public that “within a few days, everything will come to light”.