– A 62-year-old man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for defiling an 11-year-old girl on multiple occasions between June 2022 and January 2023 in the Maraba area of Kakamega.
The accused appeared before Kakamega Senior Principal Magistrate on Wednesday, where it was determined that the severity of his crime rendered him unfit for a non-custodial sentence. “Most importantly, he has been convicted of defiling an 11-year-old child who will live with psychological scars for the rest of her life,” the senior magistrate stated during the final judgment.
The court noted the accused showed no remorse during trial proceedings and did not express regret when given the opportunity to mitigate. The mandatory minimum sentence for such a crime, as prescribed by Section 8 (2) of the Sexual Offences Act, was considered in the ruling. The Act stipulates that defilement of a child under 11 years old carries a life sentence upon conviction.
The accused pleaded guilty to the offence but was granted a 14-day grace period to appeal to the High Court.
Outside the Kakamega Law Courts, local residents expressed satisfaction with the judgment. They hoped it would serve as a deterrent to anyone contemplating similar heinous acts.
In a similar case in 2023, a 48-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for defiling his 12-year-old daughter in Lamu. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) reported that the man committed the offences on several occasions between 2020 and August 26, 2022, in Ndeu Village, Lamu County. Lamu Principal Magistrate Martin Wachira handed down the sentence after reviewing the evidence.
The stringent penalties underscore the judiciary’s commitment to addressing and curbing sexual offences against minors in Kenya.
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