High Court has upheld a 15-year prison sentence handed down to an individual convicted of sexually assaulting their 12-year-old stepchild.
The accused had been charged with sexually abusing the child on multiple occasions.
During the trial, the child testified that the defendant touched them inappropriately on various parts of their body.
The lower court found the defendant guilty of sexual intercourse with a minor by a person in a position of trust and sentenced them to 15 years in prison.
According to the judgment, forensic analysis of the accused’s mobile phone and a psychological assessment of the child indicated that the child had been sexually assaulted. The court said the child’s narrative was externally consistent.
The accused appealed the conviction to the High Court. In a ruling delivered yesterday, the High Court found that the lower court had correctly convicted the accused.
Before the High Court, the defence argued that the allegations were fabricated at the instigation of the child’s biological father. The accused cited the investigation statement of the child’s mother, which was included in documents submitted to the lower court, and claimed the case stemmed from personal jealousy on the part of the father.
However, the High Court ruled that the child had first disclosed the abuse to their elder sister and later informed their father at her encouragement. The court therefore found that the matter could not be characterised as a personal dispute between the father and the accused.
The judgment further stated that there were no fundamental inconsistencies between the child’s internal account of events and the formal testimony delivered in court, and that the evidence supported the conviction.
