A Belgian man who defiled a 13-year-old girl will serve 20 years at the Shimo la Tewa Prison. Perniaux Allan Rober, 59, will also be jailed for six months for child labour. The teenager’s mother, Sidi Kyalo, was found guilty child neglect and benefiting from child prostitution.
She was sentenced to three years and six months. Mombasa senior resident magistrate James Omburah yesterday said the prosecution had proved the case beyond doubt. He said Rober's is a warning to tourists in Mombasa who prey on vulnerable children from poor families.
Omburah said he jailed Kyalo for neglecting her duty as a mother and not protecting for her naïve daughter. The prosecution mainly relied on the testimony of the girl and a paralegal that appeared as a witness.
The girl's relatives lauded the magistrate's decision. They said it will serve as a lesson to "foreign sex pests" in the country. The girl told the court that she first met Rober while selling her grandmother’s mangoes at Serena area in Shanzu early last year.
She said her mother begged the Belgian for money. He told them to follow them to his three-bedroom apartment in Shanzu so he could give them the money.
“When we reached at his house, Allan told my mum to take off her clothes and took photographs of her naked body and paid her Sh500,” the girl said. Rober then asked Kyalo to bring her daughter to his house so that he could pay for her education.
The teenager was enrolled at Shimo la Tewa Primary school with Rober as her sponsor. She told the court Rober later turned against her and ordered her to strip off her clothes for a nude photo session similar to the one he had with her mother.
“I am convinced by the statement by the complainant that the first accused asked her to take off her clothes and gave her Sh500. She was also threatened she would be taken off school,” said Omburah in his ruling.
The girl told the court that Rober later asked her to be coming to his house every Saturday where he would repeatedly defile her and pay her Sh500.
“I find the evidence of the child consistent, flowing, truthful and believable. The prosecution has proved her case through their witnesses,” Omburah said.
The girl’s mother was convicted for forcing her daughter to work for the Belgian every weekend and for not taking any action after the girl told her of the defilement.
George Dzuya, a teacher at Shimo la Tewa Primary School told the court he contacted a charitable organisation that laid an ambush for the tourist.
A doctor at Coast General Hospital in his testimony said the girl's hymen had been torn and she had been recently penetrated thereby sealing the prosecution’s case.
Omburah said Kenyan residents had taken to suing foreigners for monetary gains but the defilement case was straightforward and truthful. The two have two weeks to appeal the sentence.