A man sentenced to life imprisonment for defiling a five-year-old girl in 2005 will now serve 15 years after appeal.
Raymond Waweru Mwangi was charged with defiling a child and committing an indecent act with her.
A Makadara court imprisoned him for 15 years in 2009 for defilement. His appeal at the High Court was dismissed and the sentence enhanced to life imprisonment.
“The Sexual Offences Act came into operation on July 21, 2006, after the date of the commission of the offence,” the court document said.
The Court of Appeal has faulted the High Court for imposing the mandatory life sentence.
“The High Court erred in law by upholding the conviction and imposing the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment,” it read.
In the case, Mwangi is said to have been running a kiosk near the house of EW, the young girl’s mother.
On July 24, 2005, he held the hand of the five-year-old and two other girls and took them to a house where he told the other two girls to leave. He defiled the other girl.
The next day, the matter was reported to the police. The five-year-old was taken to Nairobi Women's Hospital for examination and her private parts found to have a tear.
Edited by R.Wamochie