Crimes

Man bags life imprisonment for sexually assaulting 4-year-old girl in church

The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, has sentenced a man, Ifeanyi Ndieze, to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl in church.

The presiding judge, Justice Abiola Soladoye, on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, held that the prosecution proved the charge of sexual assault by penetration against Ndieze in line with Section 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Justice Soladoye said: “The child identified the defendant as the man who carried her during a church programme and sexually assaulted her by inserting his finger into her vagina.

“The child was taken home, and while the mother bathed her, she was bleeding uncontrollably. At the hospital, doctors said that the matter should be reported to the police.

“The child, at the police station, was bleeding still, while her underwear, soaked with blood, was removed and taken as an exhibit.

“The child, when taken to the hospital, was in severe pain and found to have been forcibly penetrated.

“The defendant is a pathological liar as he tried to deny the offence. This is an unforgivable behaviour.

“The defendant is hereby found guilty of sexually assaulting the four-year-old child, and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.”

The judge stated that the convict’s name should be in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.

She, however, advised parents to take proper care of their children, saying: “The mother of the child should not have left her with her elder brother, a six-year-old boy.”

Lagos State counsel, Olufunke Adegoke, presented four witnesses against the convict and tendered four exhibits.

The convict testified in his defence along with three others – his sister, nephew, and niece.

According to the Lagos State Government, which prosecuted the case, the convict committed the offence at No. 18, Salau Street, Surulere, Lagos State, on October 29, 2020.

The Star