Man sentenced to life imprisonment for defiling 11-year-old pupil

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, on Wednesday, sentenced a man, Stephen Francis, to life imprisonment for defiling an 11-year-old primary five pupil in his room.

Justice Abiola Soladoye held that the prosecution had sufficiently proved the three essential ingredients of defilement against the convict.

According to her, the confessional statements of the convict were consistent with the evidence given by the survivor and her mother before the court.

Soladoye said, “The survivor, 11-year-old primary five pupil, identified the defendant in the dock as the man who sexually defiled her when he told her that his wife was calling her to run an errand for her.

“The defendant took her to his house and had sex with her. She said, ‘he took me to his room and slept with me. I went to mother and reported to her after that we went to the police station’.

“The survivor’s testimony was consistent and unshaken under cross-examination…The defendant stripped her naked and had unlawful sexual intercourse with her.”

The judge further held that slight penetration amounted to sexual intercourse and denial by the defendant was an afterthought.

“I hereby find the defendant guilty as charged of the one count of defilement and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment, the judge ruled.

Soladoye added, “The defendant should have his name registered in the sexual offence register as maintained by Lagos State.”