- Safiu Kehinde
An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced one Ismail Mustapha to 14 years imprisonment over attempted to sexual assault of his neighbour’s daughters.
Mustapha was docked on four-count charge bordering on defilement and sexual assault by penetration of two blood sisters (names withheld), ages eight and 11 years respectively.
One of the sisters and their mother had already testified before the court how Mustapha entered their house and defiled the girls while they were asleep
The prosecution later informed the court that the parties had entered a plea and sentence agreement dated Nov. 13, thereby amending the charge to a lesser charge.
Justice Rahman Oshodi, thereafter, sentenced Mustapha to 14 years jail term, following his plea bargain agreement to the one count amended charge of attempted sexual assault by penetration.
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 has sexually assaulted the 11-year-old child, a most vulnerable member of our society, yet has pleaded guilty to a lesser crime.
The judge said: “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.
“The maximum sentence prescribed under section 262 is 14 years imprisonment.
“Accordingly, after careful deliberation, I sentence you to 14 years imprisonment from your remand on July 23, 2020.
“Furthermore, you shall be registered as a sex offender, a designation that will follow you long after your release.”
The court further prohibited the convict from contacting the survivor or her family directly or through any proxy for the duration of his sentence and beyond.
“I hope you will reflect deeply on your actions, seek rehabilitation, and emerge as a reformed member of society,” Oshodi said.
The state counsel, Ms Bukola Okeowo told the court that the convict committed the offence sometime in December 2019 at Kukoyi Street, Iju-Ishaga, Lagos.
Okeowo said the offence contravened Section 262 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2015.