A 53-YEAR-OLD man, Olumuyiwa Adjoto, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for defiling a six year old girl.
The prosecution team comprised of Inumidun Sholarin, I.E. Balogun, and B.E. Okeowo had charged Olumuyiwa Adjoto before Justice Rahman Oshodi of an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic
Violence Court.
The victim, who was on holiday with the family, is the grandchild of his second wife’s younger sister.
The convict was arraigned on a three-count charge of defilement of a child, sexual assault by penetration, and indecent treatment of a
child.
The convict was represented by his counsel, Philip Imuetinyan.
During trial, the convict’s second wife, the IPO, ASP Adeniyi and Dr. Olatunji from the Mirabel Centre testified for the prosecution.
The convict testified for himself.
Before sentencing, Adjoto through his counsel, Imuetinyan, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.
The prosecution counsel, led by Sholarin, urged the court to apply the maximum punishment for sexual offenders to serve as deterrence for others.
She also prayed the court to register the name of the convict in the sexual offenders register of Lagos State.
Justice Oshodi sentenced the convict after pronouncing him guilty of two out of a three count offence brought against him by the State.
Justice Oshodi found the convict guilty on counts one and two and consequently sentenced him to life imprisonment on both counts.
He was however discharged of count three after the prosecuting counsel failed to provide convincing evidence for the charge.
The sentences are to run concurrently at a maximum custodial centre
The judge also ordered that Adjoto’s name be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Register.
According to information before the court, the convict on April 22 2022, at about 1:00 PM in Badagry,
Lagos, defiled the 6-year-old child said to be the grandchild of his second wife’s younger sister.
The victim was on a holiday visit when the incident happerned.
On the day of the incident, the convict’s second wife, Olayemi had gone to the market, leaving the victim and the defendant at home.
While the child was doing her homework in the convict’s second wife room, Adjoto was said to have entered, pushed her onto the bed, and sexually assaulted her by using his finger and penis to penetrate her.
The court heard that when the victim shouted, he slapped her and told her to shut up.
He later cleaned blood from his victim’s private part with a white cloth, bathed, dressed her and told her to go and play outside.
The crime was discovered later that night when Mrs Olayemi, upon seeing the victim recoil from Adjoto’s touch, asked what was wrong.
The victim said, “it’s daddy.” Mrs Olayemi examined the child and discovered that she had been deflowered.
Pretending to go to a church vigil, Mrs Olayemi took the victim to the General Hospital in Badagry where doctors confirmed that her private part had been tampered with and noted other evidence of assault.
