TheCable

A high court in Akure, Ondo state, has sentenced one Joseph Agbomu to life imprisonment for defiling his neighbour’s six-year-old daughter.

T.L. Ogundare, the prosecutor, had informed the court that 37-year-old Agbomu raped the girl on September 12, 2018, at about 7:30 pm at  Ijebu, Owo LGA.

The prosecutor said the survivor’s father reported a case of rape against Agbomu.

In the course of the case, Ogundare called three witnesses which included the survivor, her father and a police officer.

On his part, A.Y Aliu, counsel to the defendant, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, saying that no case of improper behaviour had ever been brought against Agbomu.

Delivering his judgment on Wednesday, Yemi Fasanmi, the presiding judge, said the prosecutor was able to prove the case of rape against the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt.

He added that the testimony of the survivor was convincing and truthful, noting that Agbomu inflicted physical, emotional and psychological trauma on the six-year-old girl.

The judge said the defendant confessed in his extra-judicial statement obtained on December 12, 2019, to having carnal knowledge of the survivor in his room without protection after taking a herbal alcoholic drink.

“The convict (Agbomu) is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment for the defilement of a child, to serve as a deterrent to others who might engage in such act,” the judge ruled.

“The survivor in this case narrated before this court that the convict who was his father’s neighbour, sent her on an errand to buy a pack of noodles.

“The survivor said the convict cooked the noodles and gave her part of it. And shortly after eating, he  pushed her to his bed and inserted his penis into her vaginal.”