A 62-year-old man has been handed a 40-year jail term for defiling an 11-year-old.
The man was found guilty of defiling the minor on different dates between June 2022 and January 2023 in Maraba area in Kakamega.
Appearing before Kakamega Senior Principal Magistrate on Wednesday, the accused was unfit for a non-custodial sentence owing to the intensity of the crime committed.
"Most importantly he has been convicted of defiling an 11-year-old child who will live with psychological for the rest of her life," the senior magistrate said while giving his final judgment.
The court established that the accused, during the trial proceedings, did not appear remorseful when he was allowed to mitigate.
The court considered the mandatory minimum sentence prescribed by Section 8 (2) of the sexual offences Act.
The Act states that a person who commits an act that causes penetration with a child is guilty of an offence termed defilement.
The Act further states that a person who commits an offence of defilement with a child aged 11 years or less shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for life.
The accused pleaded guilty to committing the offence.
The court granted him a grace period of 14 days to appeal to the High Court.
Speaking after the judgment in the precincts of Kakamega Law Courts, a section of residents of Kakamega expressed their satisfaction with the judgment. They exuded confidence that the judgment would be an eye-opener to anyone planning to commit such a heinous act.
Similarly, in 2023, a 48-year-old man was charged with defiling his 12-year-old daughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in Lamu.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) reported that the man defiled his daughter severally on diverse dates between 2020 and August 26, 2022, in Ndeu Village, Lamu County.
While delivering his ruling, Lamu Principal Magistrate Martin Wachira noted that he had decided after examining the evidence.
''The prosecution, through Prosecution Counsel Rosemary Karanja, presented five witnesses to prove its case and guide the court in convicting and sentencing the accused,'' the ODPP noted in its statement.
