Man gets 15 years for defilement

A Tarkwa Circuit Court presided over by Mr Isaac Lartey-Young at the weekend sentenced Kojo Adams, 35, an illegal small-scale miner, to 15 years' imprisonment with hard labour for defiling a 14 year-old junior secondary school (JSS) girl.

He was convicted on his own plea.

According to the prosecution, Lartey-Young on May 6 lured the victim to a Roman Catholic School at Tarkwa and forcibly had sex with her.

Narrating the dreadful ordeal, the victim said she was sent by her auntie to Tarkwa Na Aboso at about 18:00 hours on that day.

On her way she met her schoolmate, who walked with her for a short distance along the Roman Catholic cluster of schools compound but on reaching a nearby road the boy wanted to board a taxi home.

While standing by the roadside, she said the accused approached them and introduced himself as the watchman of the school. He said he saw them coming out of the school and he insisted he was sending them to the Roman Father whose house was just nearby.

The victim and the boy followed the accused and they went towards the Father's house but when they went by the first and second blocks of the school he said he was no more taking them to the Father and requested 20,000 cedis from them but they did not have the money.

The victim said the accused gave some money to the boy to buy him Akpeteshie. Suspecting an imminent foul play the boy did not go far away but returned to where the accused and the victim were.

For not going to buy the akpeteshie the accused became annoyed and pulled a knife, which she said frightened them.

The accused then stripped the boy and the girl naked and ordered them to have sexual intercourse but the boy refused.

At this juncture the accused threatened the boy with a knife and ordered him to leave the scene while gripping the victim.

"In an attempt to free myself from the grips of the accused, he booted me down and I became dazed and could not get up to escape" the victim said.

She struggled with the accused but was overpowered by him and he had sexual intercourse with her.

The victim said she shouted for help but again the accused pulled a knife to threaten her. One Ibrahim Amankra came to her aid by throwing stones at the accused, who bolted away.

Her schoolmate, who had gone to mobilise some people to rescue her, met Amankra and the victim at the school.

Amankra happened to know the accused and identified him and the Police arrested him. During interrogation the accused admitted the offence.

Passing the sentence the judge described the accused as somebody who does not deserve to live as a free man in a community.