65-year-old man, Igwe Ambrose, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for defiling two minors, aged seven and 11 years, who are daughters of his tenant.
It was gathered that the accused was said to have inserted his fingers into the private parts of the minors.
Justice Abiola Soladoye of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, on Monday, November 20, sentenced the convict to double life imprisonment on the four-count charge bordering on sexual assault by penetration and indecent treatment of a child, brought against him by Lagos state.
The offences were committed between January and June 2021 at Shagari Estate, Ipaja, Lagos.
Justice Soladoye held that the prosecution had proved the charges against the convict beyond reasonable doubt.
Soladoye described the convict as a dirty old man who fingered and touched the breasts of the survivors under the pretext of helping them with their school homework.
She said that the defendant was identified and that the evidence of the survivors exposed him as a bare-faced liar.
She said his defence was untruthful and lacking in merit.
Justice Soladoye noted that the survivors decided to open up to their mother, who then informed her husband.
She noted that the father thereafter confronted the defendant and the matter was reported to a police station.
The trial judge noted that the police visited the scene and invited the convict to the police station for interrogation.
The court noted that the convict denied the allegations against him.
Justice Soladoye in her judgement however held that the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, including that of the survivors, were credible.
She said: “The defendant was identified as the assailant and their evidence was corroborated by their mother and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) who visited the crime scene and a clear account of the assault and indecent treatment was confirmed.”
The judge, thereafter, convicted the defendant of the four-count charge levelled against him, contrary to Sections 135 and 261 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
Justice Soladoye sentenced the convict to life imprisonment on counts one and two and three years each on counts three and four.
The trial judge also ordered that the name of the convict be entered in the Sexual Offences Register maintained by the Lagos State Government.
During the trial, the state counsel, Mrs Olufunke Adegoke, called four witnesses, including the two survivors, their mother the survivors, and IPO through whom five exhibits were tendered.
The convict testified for himself.
Source: The Nation
