A Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos Thursday sentenced a – 25- year- old sales assistant, Simon Benjamin to a three years imprisonment for sexual assault of kissing a 12- year-old minor.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Abiola Soladoye following the plea bargain agreement to the amended charges of sexual assault through his counsel, Tolulope Banjo.
The convict was a sales assistant and he was living with his brother in the same compound with the survivor.
The mother of the survivor initially alleged that when she discovered that her daughter is no longer a virgin, she questioned her aggressively, and the survivor told her mum how she lost her virginity to the convict.
On Friday, 7th of July 2023, the survivor went to their neighbour’s apartment to return a phone brought to her by one of their neighbours for charging. She met the convict at the apartment who told her that the owner of the phone and her parents were not at home.
She was trying to go back to her apartment when Benjamin dragged her back and closed the door, pushed her on the chair, and immediately removed his penis and made love with her.
She shouted, but no one could hear her. But the prosecution could not prove this allegation against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt. So, the court only found him guilty of sexual assault by kissing the survivor.
The charge reads: “That Simon Benjamin sometime in July 2024, at Ogba road, Agege, Lagos in the Ikeja Judicial Division did sexually assault one (F) aged (12) twelve years old by kissing her without her consent.
“This offence is contrary to section 263 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos state 2015. The state counsel O.E Adewoye urge the court to sentence the convict to three years imprisonment instead of two years he prayed for in the plea bargain agreement.”
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