An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced a man, Ismail Mustapha, to 14 years imprisonment for attempting to sexually assault his neighbour’s 11-year-old girl (names withheld).
Justice Rahman Oshodi convicted and sentenced Mustapha following the submission of the prosecution that the parties had entered a plea and sentence agreement dated November 13.
The plea bargain agreement amended the initial charge to a lesser one.
The convict was initially arraigned before the court on a four-count charge bordering on defilement and sexual assault by penetration of two sisters, ages eight and 11 years respectively.
One of the sisters and their mother had testified before the court on how Mustapha entered their house and defiled the girls while they were asleep.
Delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Oshodi sentenced Mustapha to 14 year-jail term, following his plea bargain agreement to the one count amended charge bordering on attempted sexual assault by penetration.
Justice Oshodi said he had meticulously considered the facts of the case, the evidence presented before this court, and the terms of the plea bargain agreement entered into by both parties.
He said that the gravity of his offence could not be overstated as it weighed heavily upon the court.
According to him, Mustapha had sexually assaulted the 11-year-old child, described as a most vulnerable member of our society, yet has pleaded guilty to a lesser crime
“Your reprehensible actions have not only violated the bodily integrity of an innocent child but have also, in all likelihood, inflicted long-lasting emotional and psychological trauma that may haunt the victim for years to come.”
