An 80-year-old man was on Friday sentenced to 30 years in prison by a court in Rongo.
The man, James Pesa Olwade, had pleaded guilty to defiling a 14-year-old girl in Awendo.
While delivering the ruling, Judge Charles Kamau stated that Olwade used the fact that he was trusted by the victim to sexually assault her.
“I note that the accused is an elderly man several times older than the victim. This age gap aggravates the crime. The fact that as a child, the victim trusted him only for him to violate her is also aggravating,” he stated.
The Judge added that defilement cases were on the rise in the area and the sentence handed to the old man was to serve as a deterrent to other potential perpetrators.
“It is unfortunate that the vice is on the rise especially in Awendo and Rongo. Let this serve as a lesson to those who may think of perpetrating the crime,” he conveyed.
According to court documents, the old man lured the minor to his home and raped her recurrently.
In his testimony, Sergent Steve Mulumba of Awendo Police station stated, “He asked the victim to get him some sweet potatoes from his house before he followed her, grabbed her and defiled her repeatedly."
The matter was reported to the police when parents noticed that the girl had trouble walking and she opened up on what occurred.
According to the Sexual Offences Act, 2006, a person guilty of rape is liable, upon conviction to imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may be enhanced to imprisonment for life.
Section 11 of the Act further states that; any person who commits an indecent act with a child is guilty of the offence of committing an indecent act with a child and is liable, upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years.
