By; RAYMOND TEDUNJAYE, Lagos
The Domestic and Sexual Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos has sentenced a security guard to life imprisonment for having canal knowledge of a 14-year old girl.
The convict, identified as Blessing Okon, 23, was alleged to have consistently defiled the victim right from age nine.
While delivering judgement on the matter that commenced in 2019 Justice Abimbola Soladoye submitted that the prosecution proved the essential ingredients of defilement beyond reasonable doubt and that the victim was consistent in her statement and oral testimony which she said was corroborated by other evidence before the court and found the defendant guilty as charged.
According to the judge the corroborative evidence showed penetration of the hymen, though it was a normal vagina but that there was injury in the vagina lining.
She added that the defendant is lacking in compassion for having sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl.
In her words, “The defendant is shameless and has been having sex with the victim since she was nine years old.”
“This defendant is lacking in compassion he had sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl. There was overwhelming evidence against him as presented by the prosecution. He therefore should pay for his sexual crime.
“The defendant is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment without an option of fine.
Justice Soladoye sentenced the convict to life imprisonment without an option of fine and added that the convict name is to be entered into the register of sexual offenders in Lagos State.
Tte judge also commended chaplain of the school that reported the incident and for reporting the matter to the authority without any cover up and urged chaplain of other schools to do the same.
Soladoye in the judgement commended the chaplain of the survivor’s school to whom she revealed that she was defiled by the guard. The chaplain alerted her father about the crime.
“The chaplain of the school in question had a listening ear thereby allowing the victim to share her thoughts, worries, anxieties and frustration which eventually led to the reporting of this case to the authorities.
“I salute the chaplain’s courage and candor for not sweeping this case under the carpet.
“I wish him all the best and I do hope sincerely that others in positions of power will be able to speak up in issues of sexual abuse and report them to the authorities,” the trial judge said.
According to the state prosecutors, Mr. Olusola Soneye and Mrs. Olufunke Adegoke, the convict committed the offence on September 13, 2019 at Ribadu Road off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He was 20 years old when he committed the offence.
Three witnesses presented evidence during trial. They are the survivor, her father and a medical doctor while Okon was the sole witness in his defence.
The survivor in her testimony, said that the defendant had sexually assaulted her when she was nine years old by touching her breasts on two occasions.
She said he eventually defiled her when she was 14 years old by dragging her to the staircase of her home and having unlawful sexual intercourse with her.
