A Domestic and Sexual Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, has sentenced one Blessing Okon to life imprisonment for defiling a minor.
Justice Abiola Soladoye found him guilty of the offence of defiling a 14-year-old girl for more than five years, and sentenced him accordingly.
Describing Okon as shameless, the judge noted that the victim was consistent in her oral testimony before the court, which established that the defendant had been abusing her sexually since she was nine years old.
“This defendant is lacking in compassion; he had sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl. There was overwhelming evidence against him as presented by the prosecution. He, therefore, should pay for his sex crime.
Justice Sholadoye noted that the convict is “guilty of Section 137 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos state (ACJL) and is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment without an option of fine.
“His name is to be entered into the register of sexual offenders in Lagos State,” the judge ruled.
Justice Soladoye commended the chaplain of the school that reported the incident for having a listening ear to the victim’s worries and complaints and for reporting the matter to the authority without any cover-up and urged heads of other schools to do the same.
According to the State prosecutors, Mr. Olusola Soneye and Mrs. Olufunke Adegoke, Okon committed the offence on September 13, 2019, at Ribadu Road off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He was 20-years-old when he committed the offence.
The prosecution presented three witnesses: the victim, her father and a medical doctor, while Okon testified solely in his defence.
The victim, in her testimony, said the defendant had sexually assaulted her when she was nine years old by touching her breasts on two occasions.
She said he eventually defiled her when she was 14-years-old by dragging her to the staircase of her home, and having unlawful sexual intercourse with her.