A report by the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions reveals that defilement cases are on the rise in the country.
The 2020-2021 annual report by the ODPP says defilement accounted for the bulk of 11,366 sexual offences cases filed in court.
The report indicates that defilement accounted for 6,467 cases, indecent act with child recorded 1,329, attempted defilement 1,024 and rape 846 cases.
Other sexual offences that registered high cases include attempted rape at 480, gang rape 228, incest 435, sexual assault 266 and bestiality (sexual intercourse between a person and an animal) had 22 cases.
Deliberate HIV transmission recorded 22 cases in the year under review.
Trafficking for sexual exploitation were three, child prostitution and pornography 28, unnatural offences 65 and other offences related to mortality recorded 145 cases.
In Kenya, defilement of a child between 12 to 15 years carries a sentence of 20 years imprisonment, while defilement of 16- 18-year-olds carries a prison sentence of 15 years.
During the reporting period, 3,625 sexual offences cases underwent full trial conviction.
Out of these 1,656 were on defilement.
Some 1,316 cases were withdrawn in court out of which 634 were on defilement.
Also, 973 cases were acquitted, 301 had guilty pleas and 109 were diversion.
In May, the Ministry of Health had highlighted that at least 9,484 children were defiled in 2020, with many infected with sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.
The children were aged 12 to 17, according to data entered in the Kenya Health Management Information System, which captures visits to all public health facilities.
When Covid-19 pandemic hit Kenya in 2020, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data showed that defilements increased to 6,801 from 5,397 in 2019, a 26 per cent increase.
Nairobi county command station reported most sex crime cases at 4,918 followed by Kiambu (3,362), Nakuru (3,334), Kisii (3,087) and Meru (2,797).
Counties with the least sex offences being Mandera (261), Wajir (267), Samburu (364), Elgeyo Marakwet (507) and Kericho (537).
