US missionary, 70, accused of sodomy in Kenya

NAIROBI, May 2 (Reuters) A Kenyan court charged a 70-year-old Catholic missionary from the United States today with sodomy in a Nairobi park.

''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.

Reuters CH GC2010