Justice Alhaji Momoh Jah Stevens has sentenced another sexual offender, Alpha Fofanah, to ten years imprisonment at the Male Correctional Centre for sexually violating a 15 year old girl. Prior to the judgment, the state alleged that between 7th and 10th March 2020, Alpha Fofanah sexually penetrated the underage girl in Freetown. He was charged with sexual penetration of a child contrary to Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2012 as amended and repealed and replaced by Section 4 of the Sexual Offences Amendment Act No. 8 of 2019. Though police investigations revealed that the accused is the girl’s boyfriend, it is still illegal to have sexual intercourse with any girl below the age of 18.
According to Justice Momoh Jah Stevens, the aforementioned allegation is a serious one hence the prosecution must prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. Among the burden of proof, the prosecution must establish that the victim is underage, the accused must have the intention of committing the act, the act must have been committed by the accused, and it must be supported by corroborated evidence. All four elements must be proven by counsel for the state for the accused to be found guilty of the offence.
Going through the judgment, Justice Stevens read out the testimonies of the victim, the police, the accused and other witnesses, and said the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and therefore found the accused guilty of sexual penetration of a child. He sentenced Fofanah to ten years imprisonment at the Male Correctional Centre at Pademba Road. This is the second convict in two days to be sentenced to ten years imprisonment for such a crime.
A day ago Justice Kamanda slammed another convict with the same sentence.
By Mohamed J. Bah