72-year-old gateman bags life imprisonment for defiling a 7-year-old girl in Lagos

A worrying alarm was raised by the teacher of the victim after she complained of pain in her private part area.

The Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja has sentenced a 72-year-old man, identified as David Jackson to life imprisonment for defiling a 7-year-old girl.

Justice Abiola Soladoye passed the sentence and held that the prosecution had proved the three ingredients of defilement against the convict.

The prosecution counsel informed the court during the trial that the victim’s brother sent her on an errand when this incident occurred. It was said that the incident occured on May 16, 2022, at Oyedele Close, Ojodu, Berger, Lagos State.

According to the counsel, Jackson pounced on the little girl as she walked past the resident the guard was securing, covering her mouth and had unlawful sexual intercourse with her.

During her verdict, Soladoye held that the victim was 7 years old at the time the incident occured and during her testimony, she identified Jackson, who was a gateman in one of the houses in her street as her abuser.

“The testimony of the survivor was clear, consistent and coherent under cross-examination,” she began.

“The second prosecution witness was a teacher who identified that the survivor was her student.

“She testified that one of the survivor’s classmates had reported to her that the survivor was not feeling well and she was walking in a funny way.

“The teacher, in her evidence, said that she made inquiry and discovered that the survivor was complaining of pains in her private part and that someone had sexually assaulted her.”

The judge also held that the testimony provided by the victim’s father was corroborated by the other two prosecution witnesses.

Although the convict tried to deny the charge, she said that his attempts were not considered.

“The defendant is consequently found guilty as charged for defilement of a 7-year old child contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015 and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment,” she added.

Soladoye also ordered that the convict’s name be registered in the Sexual Offences Register as maintained by the Lagos State Government.