Correspondence from Eastern Region

A male teacher at Modern Preparatory School, a privately owned school in Odumase-Krobo, Eastern Region, has been granted bail by the Odumase Circuit Court despite pleading guilty to charges of sextortion.

Smart Kumi, 27, a tutor at the school, is facing charges of sex extortion (sextortion) before the Odumase Circuit Court, contrary to Section 66 (1) of the Cybersecurity Act 2020 (Act 1038).

Details available to GhanaWeb indicate that Miss Bernadette Dzigbordi Agbeko, a resident of Odumase-Krobo, was a newly posted teacher at the same school.

According to gathered information, the suspect, also a teacher at the school, grew close to the complainant and, during the course of their friendship, expressed romantic interest in her. Though Dzigbordi turned down Kumi’s advances, they remained friends.

During their friendship, the accused accessed the complainant’s phone and discovered nude pictures of Dzigbordi on the device. Investigations revealed that the accused, without her knowledge, transferred the nude images onto his own phone.

Kumi subsequently sent the complainant’s nude pictures back to her and demanded sex, threatening to publish the images if she refused his demands.

Threatened by her colleague’s actions, Dzigbordi pleaded with him not to carry out his threats, but he ignored her pleas. Out of fear, she lodged a formal complaint against Smart Kumi at the Odumase Police Station on April 24, 2025.

Police personnel arrested Kumi on Sunday, April 27. During interrogation, he denied the offence, claiming that the complainant was his girlfriend and that they had previously had sexual intercourse.

The accused appeared before the Odumase Circuit Court, presided over by His Honour Kwasi Abadoo Appiatse, where he pleaded guilty to the offence of sex extortion (sextortion), which carries a minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment and a maximum of 25 years.

However, sentencing was deferred, and the suspect was remanded in custody until May 13. Sentencing was again deferred to May 19, 2025.

In a dramatic turn of events, the suspect was granted bail on May 19, 2025, when he appeared before the court for sentencing, with one surety.

The same court, presided over by Judge Kwasi Abadoo Appiatse, sentenced Baba Zakaria, an okada rider, to 10 years imprisonment in April 2025 for sex extortion and human trafficking.