Prosecutor General's Office has said that they will be appealing a case where a lower court Judge acquitted a man accused of sexual assault of a minor, and in the ruling raised questions against the victim.
Prosecutor General's Office has said that they will be appealing a case where a lower court Judge acquitted a man accused of sexual assault of a minor, and in the ruling raised questions against the victim.
The Prosecutor General's Office said that the appeal case is being prepared now and will be submitted to the High Court tomorrow. The case in question had the verdict announced on July 25, with the 60 day appeal window closing tomorrow.
The man, accused of sexual abuse of a boy, was acquitted of all charges. The magistrate presiding over the case then raised questions about the child's actions. With his remarks, now the Judicial Services Commission is also looking into the matter as a disciplinary issue, although they have not announced a decision as of yet.
The State raised charges of exposing sexual organs to a child, and deliberately touching a child with sexual intent against the man. He denied the charges, but did not provide any evidence to support his defence. However, the court ruled he was innocent beyond doubt.
In the ruling, the Magistrate instead raised questions concerning the actions of the victim. Some of the questions he raised include;
- Why did the child remain at the location after the man put his hand in the child's jeans and after he exposed himself
- Was the child's jeans so loose as to allow the accused to place his hand inside the child's jeans and touch his private parts
- Did the accused physically restrain the child in order to place his hand inside the child's jeans
In the ruling, the Magistrate stated that these details are not confirmed in the child's statement, and claimed that it is 'common sense' that a child would protest if they are inflicted to 'an act they do not approve of'. The Magistrate claimed that in such a situation, a child would scream and leave the location, and that 'a child will not look if they are shown something they do not want to see'.
"Usually, children will wear jeans that fit them around the waist, or will wear belts to make it fit. Even a regular person will not believe that a person can just force their hand into the jeans of a child of this age and fondle them without there being any reaction," the ruling reads.
"Therefore it is not believable that a sexual assault took place in the way the child has said."
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