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Man gets life sentence for defiling minor, blames the devil


An 82-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison in record time after pleading guilty to defiling an eight-year-old girl on Thursday.

Festus Chemoite Mandu from Namirembe village in Likuyani Sub County, Kakamega County, agreed to the charges pressed against him before Eldoret Chief Magistrate Charles Obulutsa even after he was informed of the consequences of pleading guilty.

The man said he was not contesting the charges that indicated that he lured the minor to his house in the village when she was heading home from school on Thursday and defiled her.

The girl was rescued by irate neighbors who heard the girl screaming inside his house.

He was arrested by the villagers and handed over to police officers at Namirembe AP Camp.

The accused pleaded guilty after the charges were read to him.

The magistrate warned him of the consequences of the offence he had confessed to before sentencing him.

“The sentence of the offence you have admitted is life imprisonment, do you still confess?” asked the magistrate.

BLAMED DEVIL

The elderly man responded in the affirmative as he repeatedly confessed to have committed the offence blaming the devil for making do so.

“Your honor, it is true I committed the said offence as a result of the work of the devil who lied to me,” he told the magistrate during his mitigation.

While delivering the judgment on Friday, the magistrate said the accused had confidently pleaded guilty even after he was warned of the consequences of the offence.

He went on to say that he acted intentionally and unlawfully contrary to the Sexual Offences Act.

“The accused is convicted after he has pleaded guilty, the court has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he committed the offence of defilement contrary to section 8(1) (2) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006 that warrants life imprisonment,” Mr Obulutsa ruled.

There was pin-drop silence in the courtroom as members of public in court were shocked as the man confessed to the offence.

The convict has however been given 14 days to appeal.