Court of Appeal Judge presiding over cases at the Sexual Offences Model Court in Freetown, Justice Alhaji Momoh-Jah Stevens, has sentenced a 30-year-old driver, Adams Conteh, to 15 years imprisonment for sexually penetrating a 12-year-old girl.
Conteh was before the court on a one count indictment of sexual penetration contrary to section 19 of the Sexual Offences Act.
According to the police, the convict, on a date unknown between the 1st day of January 2021 and the 12th day of August 2021, in Freetown, engaged in an act of sexual penetration with the victim, a pupil.
Upon his arraignment, the accused had denied the allegation brought up against him by the State.
Justice Stevens granted the trial by judge alone application made by the State Prosecutor, Musa Pious Sesay, in the interest of justice and speedy trial.
During the course of the trial, Lawyer Sesay led in evidence a number of witnesses in support of his case.
The victim, who was a Class 6 pupil at the time, had told the police that she agreed to accompany her friend to the compound next to them. She said while they were there, the accused made a sign to her with his hand and called her inside their house which she did.
She said the accused used the occasion to forcefully sexually penetrate her and left her in pain as she was bleeding because she had been deflowered.
She said she couldn’t tell her mother because she was afraid until she fell sick and was later discovered to have been sexually penetrated.
After the close of the prosecution’s case, the accused testified in his own defence and called a witness in support of his case.
After thorough examination of the totality of the evidence adduced before the court, Justice Stevens noted that the accused was as guilty as charged.
In his allocutus, the convict pleaded for mercy.
In his plea in mitigation, Defence Counsel C. Taylor Young said that his client was a first-time offender and had been in custody since his arrest.
In a separate matter, Justice Stevens also sentenced a 19-year-old Pupil, Samud Brima Conteh to 5 years imprisonment.
Conteh who was 17 at the time of the investigations, was before the court on a three count-charge of sexual penetration. He was alleged to have on the 3rd day of May 2020, at Freetown, engaged in an act of sexual penetration with a 12-year-old pupil.
In his statement to the police, Conteh admitted that the allegation against him was true.
A 20-year-old teacher, Alieu Sheik Umar, was also sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for sexual penetration.
Umar had denied having any relationship with the victim who was 13 years of age at the time.
The victim identified the accused as her Arabic Teacher.
