An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Tuesday convicted and sentenced a man, Stanley Mbadiwe, to 10 years imprisonment for sexual assault and indecent treatment of a nine-year-old girl.
Justice Rahmon Oshodi convicted him after he pleaded guilty to the two amended charges brought against him by the Lagos State Government.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Mbadiwe was initially arraigned on July 28, 2021, and was initially charged with defilement through the one-count information filed on March 6, 2019, after which he pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution said the convict, sometime in May 2018, at about 5 pm at Isolo, Ikeja division, Lagos, indecently treated and sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl by pressing her breast with his hands and touching her buttocks with his hands.
According to the prosecution, the offences committed contravened Sections 135, and 263 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
During the trial, the prosecution called two witnesses, the prosecutrix mother and the prosecutrix. They testified that the event occurred in May 2018, when the defendant forcibly raped the prosecutrix.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the prosecution informed the court that the parties had entered a plea deal dated and signed on October 10, 2024.
Mbadiwe was, therefore, re-arraigned on the amended two counts bordering on indecent treatment of a child under Section 135 of the criminal law and sexual assault under Section 263 of the criminal law.
He pleaded guilty to the two counts and the court held his plea.
However, while delivering judgment, Justice Oshodi held that the court had carefully considered the facts of the case, the plea bargain agreement, and the provisions of the law.
He ruled, “Stanley Mbadiwe, I have found you guilty of indecent treatment of a child and sexual assault contrary to Section 135 and 263 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
“The gravity of your offence cannot be overstated as it weighs heavily upon this court. You sexually assaulted a nine-year-old girl, a vulnerable member of our society, yet have pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
“Your reprehensible actions have not only convicted the bodily integrity of an innocent child but have also in all likelihood inflicted a long-lasting emotional and psychological trauma that will haunt the victim for years to come.”
The judge noted that the plea bargain contained a compensation clause under Section 272 of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State as amended in 2021, saying he accepted that the N1m compensation paid to the victim’s family demonstrated a measure of genuine remorse on his part.
“However, I must note that no financial compensation can genuinely undo the harm you have caused,” he noted.
The court, therefore, sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on count one and three years on count two.
“I now sentence you to 10 years imprisonment from your remand on May 8, 2018. Furthermore, you shall be registered as a sex offender, a designation that will follow you long after your release,” he ruled.
The court held that the sentences shall run consecutively by the plea bargain agreement between both parties. Therefore, the total term of imprisonment shall be 10 years. (PUNCH Metro)
