A 50-year old man pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of aggravated statutory rape of a 12-year girl and he was sentenced to to 15-years’ imprisonment.
The man was spared the mandatory minimum sentence of 12 strokes of the cane because he was more than 50-years old at the time of his sentencing.
Under the Criminal Procedure Code, a male offender is only liable to be caned if he is between the age of 18 and 50 who has been certified to be in a fit state of health by a medical officer.
Although the man had committed the offence in 2009, the rape was only brought to the attention of the authorities in 2011.
Although the man was married to another woman and had his own children, he was involved in a relationship with the victim’s mother since 2000 and he had looked after the victim since she was a child attending nursery.
As the victim grew up, she attended a children’s home on weekdays and only went home on weekends, and this meant that she was often left alone in the company of the man whom she called “Daddy” because her mother worked on weekends.
The man’s criminal defence lawyer argued that a term of imprisonment between 10-years and 12-years was sufficient because the man was remorseful and had cooperated with the investigations.
However, the Prosecution argued that a sentence of 16-years’ imprisonment was appropriate because the victim was taken advantage of by the person whom she regarded as a father figure and she was violated in her own home which was a place where she was supposed to feel safe.
More information on the case may be found here.