An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital, has sentenced a man, Sunday Oluwafemi, to life imprisonment for defiling a nine-year-old girl.

The convict was said to have been arrested by policemen in the state for committing the offence in Akure in 2019. It was gathered that the victim was the convict’s wife’s niece living with the couple.

He was later charged to court and arraigned before the court on one count of rape.

According to the charge, the convict committed the offence on November 24, 2019, at about 4:pm in Akure, contrary to Section31(1) of the Child’s Right Law, Laws of Ondo State, 2012 and Sections 218 and 257 of the Criminal Code Law of Ondo State 2006.

After a series of arguments in court proceedings on the matter, the judge, Justice Yemi Fasanmi, held that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt that the convict committed the offence.

The judge ruled, “The confessional statement of the defendant, both written and oral, with that of the medical doctor showed without equivocation that he indeed committed the offence.

“The defendant has betrayed the victim’s trust in him, looking at him as a father and also the trust of his brother-in-law who saw him as a good guardian. The evidence of the charge was corroborated as there were several penetrations into the vault of the victim’s vaginal.

“I, therefore, hold that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant had sexual intercourse with the victim severally and it was not consensual. The mandatory provision is that once a defendant is found guilty of rape, he is liable to life imprisonment.

“Based on the above reasoning and in strict adherence to the provisions of the law, I have no alternative than to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment and I so hold. The sole issue for determination is resolved in favour of the prosecution. He is convicted as charged and sentenced to life imprisonment.”