A Tarkwa circuit court has sentenced Francis Quist, an 18-year-old welder to 7 years imprisonment for defiling a 14-year-old girl at Tarkwa Naboso in the Western region.

He pleaded guilty.

Police Detective Chief Inspector Oscar Amponsah told the court presided over by Mr. Samuel Obeng Diawuo, that the victim lived with her grandmother at the Tarkwa police barracks while the convict resided at Tarkwa Naboso.

Chief Inspector Amponsah said that last month, the complainant detected that the girl was pregnant but she (girl) denied it.

The prosecution said a test at the Tarkwa Government Hospital confirmed that the girl was pregnant.

Chief Insp. Amponsah told the court that on April 23, Quist lured the girl, who had attended a church programme, into his room and forcefully had sex with her.

He said the police issued a medical form to the victim to visit the Tarkwa Government Hospital for examination, which indicated that she was 17 weeks pregnant.**