Sex With A Minor: Go And Spend Your Life In Prison, Court Tells Convict

For having sexual intercourse with the five-year-old daughter of his neighbour (name withheld), a man, Ugochukwu Onuoha, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Onuoha was slammed with the life sentence after being convicted by the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, Ikeja, presided over by Justice Rahman Oshodi.

Delivering judgment on a defilement case instituted against the convict by the Lagos State Government (LASG), Justice Oshodi held that the prosecution had established beyond reasonable doubt that the prosecutrix was a child at the time of the incident.

Earlier addressing the court, the counsel for the prosecution, Adedipupo Adewetan alleged that the convict committed the offence on June 20, 2021, at Achakpo Street, Olodi Apapa, Lagos.

The prosecutor specifically insisted that the convict had sexual intercourse with the survivor.

The offence, according to the prosecution, offends Section 137 of the Criminal Law, Ch. C17, Vol 3, Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

While handing down his judgment, Justice Oshodi declared that the evidence of the survivor's mother that the defendant apologised and promised not to do it again is an admission, with an addition that It also corroborated the prosecutrix’s evidence. 

Justice Oshodi said, “There is abundant evidence that the defendant committed the crime. I believed the prosecutrix when she testified before me. 

“She was resolute that it was the defendant that penetrated her vagina with his penis.

“She maintained this during cross-examination and gave further details to embellish her evidence-in-chief. 

"Regardless, the evidence shows that you had sexual intercourse with the victim, who, to your knowledge, was a child. 

“According to the medical evidence, by the age of the victim, the sexual intercourse you had with her could cause vagina bleeding and may lead to death.”

The judge equally held that the medical evidence also shows short and long-term impacts on the victim. 

“The sexual intercourse that you had with the victim could cause structural damage to the vagina, the uterus, and other surrounding organs. 

“The psychology of the victim was affected and may require years of counselling,” the judge said.

Consequently, Justice Oshodi found Onuoha guilty as charged and noted that the defendant showed no remorse. 

"You offered no words of consolation for the victim and her family. I do not know at this time what the total ramifications will be for the victim. 

“The extent of damage you have done to the victim for your sexual gratification is mind-boggling.

"Our laws in Lagos have zero tolerance for sexual crimes. The charge of defilement, for which you have just been convicted, carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, which signals that it is unacceptable,” the judge declared.

The judge therefore sentenced Onuoha to life imprisonment and ordered that his name be registered as a sex offender in the Lagos State Sexual Offender's Register.

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