A Kirinyaga father who on Monday pleaded guilty to defiling and impregnating his two stepdaughters has been convicted of incest.
John Gichira Gichini was convicted by Baricho senior principal magistrate Antony Mwicigi. The magistrate will sentence him on January 14.
The 51-year-old is accused of sexual misconduct that led to pregnancies. His first stepdaughter is now raising a seven-month-old baby, while the second is five months pregnant.
The first offence was committed between June 1–30, 2019, and the second offence between August 1–31, 2020, in Kinyakiru village, Ndia.
The accused said he was ignorant of his stepdaughters’ age but knew they were minors as he married their mother when the children had been born.
He pleaded for forgiveness from the court and his family, blaming Satan for misleading him.
“I deeply regret having caused harm to my family and would plead with this court to forgive me. Before the offences that led me here, I had never committed crimes of such nature,” he said.
Gichini will be remanded as the court awaits a probation officer to present an analysis on January 14 of how the crime has affected the victims.
The accused appeared before the court for the second time. Earlier, the court had granted the prosecution three days to gather necessary documents to ascertain the minors' ages.
On Thursday, prosecutor Patricia Gikunju presented the exhibits, among them birth certificates, baptismal certificates, medical reports, maternity and P3 documents. They helped confirm that the sisters are aged 16 and 14 years.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
