An Ado-Ekiti High Court has sentenced a school proprietor in Ekiti State, Babatunde Ibitoye, to 10 years imprisonment for defiling a 10-year-old pupil.
Ibitoye, the proprietor of God’s Grace Nursery and Primary School, Agric Olope, was convicted after evidence proved that he committed the offence on June 10, 2013.
The case began on December 3, 2013 after the Ministry of Justice preferred a one-count charge against Ibitoye, whose school was closed down by the Kayode Fayemi administration shortly after the rape scandal.
The culprit was apprehended on June 10, 2013 in a bush near Agric Olope Market, where he had carnal knowledge of the victim under the pretext of taking her home after school hours.
Ibitoye was said to have taken four pupils in the school bus and headed towards a bushy spot after claiming that he wanted to excrete only to have carnal knowledge of his victim after sending the other pupils on errands.
Luck, however, ran out on him as some mechanics nearby, apparently attracted by the victim’s screams, mobilized to the spot where the suspect was caught “pants down”.
Ibitoye was subsequently handed over to the Ologede Divisional Police Headquarters from where the case was transferred to the State Police Headquarters for prosecution.
Delivering judgment in the matter on Tuesday, Justice Monisola Oluwatoyin Abodunde held that the prosecution has proved the case beyond every reasonable doubt against the accused person.
The judge held that the offence, which contravenes Section 31 (C) of the Child Rights Law 2013, attracts a 10-year imprisonment without any option of fine.
Justice Abodunde further held that evidence before her showed that the accused person sexually abused the victim who was a pupil at the time the offence was committed.
Abodunde said she agreed with the averment of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the testimony of the victim that the accused person was caught at the scene of the crime.
“I rely heavily on the evidence of the victim that the defendant had been having sexual relationship with her before he was caught. Some of the teachers even gave evidence that she bled profusely few days before that time; this further confirmed that she had been sexually abused.
“The fact that the defendant was caught pants down was suffice to prove that the accused committed the offence contrary to Section 31(c)of the State Child Rights Law 2013 and he is hereby sentenced to 10 years imprisonment without option of fine”, Justice Abodunde ruled.
really need a nice girl