By Mohamed Foday Conteh
Justice Momoh-Jah Stevens has sentenced Peter Samura, a secondary school pupil to 10-years imprisonment for sexual penetration.
Samura made his final appearance at the Sexual Offences Model Court in Freetown on Monday 13th December this year.
The State Prosecutor, Musa Pious Sesay Jr. led in a total of three witnesses including the victim, her mother and the police investigator.
The girl victim, testifying as the first witness in the matter, told the judge that she had known the accused since they were in primary school but that he wooed her when she was in Sixth Form.
The young lady, who was 17-year-old at the time of the incident, said it was on a Sunday towards the end of May this year that Samura asked her to meet him at his father’s house in Kissy, Freetown. The victim said she was in a room with Samura having a normal conversation when he shut the door and later pushed her and went on to rape her.
She said she did not disclose what had happened to anyone because the accused forced her to take an oath over a cup of water but said her family later found out when her elder sister eavesdropped on her while confiding to a neighbour about the incident.
The mother of the victim, who testified as the second prosecution witness, said it was late in the night when an elder sister of the victim knocked on her door and informed her that the younger daughter had been penetrated by Samura.
She said she called the victim and examined her since she is a nurse. She added that she found out that her daughter had been penetrated. She said the victim later fled the house that night after she fainted from the shock of her findings.
Detective Sergeant 10113 John Paul Sesay attached to the Family Support Unit (FSU) Kissy Police Division was the final witness for the prosecution.
He said the matter was reported to the police on the 4th of June 2021 and was immediately allocated to him for investigation. The detective said three days after the matter was reported to the police, he issued a police medical request form to the victim for examination at the Rainbo Medical Centre.
He added that on the 13th September this year, he obtained a Voluntary Caution Statement (VCS) from the accused to which he confessed to the allegations.
At the start of the defence by Cyril Taylor-Young, Samura decided to make an unsworn statement in court. The young man said it was the victim who encouraged him to have sex with her even though he was concerned about her age. He claimed the girl told him she is older than him.
Samura said the girl’s family and his were not in speaking terms before the incident and that it was the victim’s mother and elder sister that arrested him on his way to school.
The young man pleaded with the judge for mercy before the sentencing.
Lawyer Taylor-Young, in his plea in mitigation on behalf of the convict, pleaded with the judge to hand the minimum sentence since his client is under the age of 23.
Justice Stevens, while noting that the young man is unfortunate, sentenced him to 10-years imprisonment and admonished him to learn from his mistakes.
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