NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Olympic steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya has been charged with having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl and was released on bail Monday after pleading not guilty.
Kipruto was charged with what is referred to as “defilement” in Kenyan law — sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of 18. Because the girl is under 16, Kipruto faces at least 20 years in prison if convicted, according to Kenya’s sexual offenses laws.
The charge is comparable to statutory rape.
The 25-year-old Kipruto, who is a policeman, was charged in a courthouse in Kapsabet, a town in the high-altitude Rift Valley region that is famous for producing a stream of world-class distance runners.