- Loporin had been living with the girl before she found out that she was pregnant.
- A medical officer testified that based on her age, DE had been defiled by the person known to her.
Sometime in 2021, Benjamin Loporin met a girl, codenamed DE, and took her in as his wife.
At the time, DE was a 16-year-old Form 1 student in Turkana.
They lived together for a while and at some point, DE told the man that she was pregnant, leading him to take her to the hospital for an abortion.
There, he paid Sh1,000 as indicated by a receipt of payment.
Loporin would later be arrested and charged with defilement, considering his wife was 16.
During the trial, the prosecution produced a medical officer who would confirm that after examining the girl, it was found that she was three months pregnant.
He testified that based on her age DE had been defiled by a person known to her.
The treatment notes for October 31, 2021, show that she complained of abdominal pains, seemingly from the drugs she had been given to procure an abortion.
After considering the case, the trial court convicted him and sentenced him to serve 15 years imprisonment.
Being dissatisfied with the said judgement, Loporin lodged a petition of appeal filed on June 30, 2023, against his conviction and sentence.
He submitted that the evidence presented by the prosecution was not sufficient to convict him.
Loporin said during the trial, he was not supplied with prosecution witness statements and exhibits at all to help him prepare and mount a solid defence including cross-examining DE
He also claimed that the trial court ignored the inconsistency that an abortion is alleged to have been procured but the pregnancy test conducted three days later returned a positive pregnancy result.
Opposing the appeal, the prosecution said Loporin did not raise the question of not being supplied with witness statements during the trial.
The state affirmed that the man had been accorded a fair trial and, urged the court to consider reducing the sentence meted out given the circumstances of this case.
After reviewing the case, Judge Rueben Nyakundi of the High Court at Lodwar found that defilement did occur.
This is as supported by the medical examiner's testimony of pregnancy, and the money Loporin paid for abortion drugs.
He found that the prosecution had proven the case beyond the required standard, consequently, dismissing the appeal on conviction.
"Accordingly, I find that the prosecution proved their case beyond reasonable doubt and that the trial court did not error in convicting the appellant for defilement. The appeal on conviction therefore lacks merit and is hereby dismissed," the court papers read.
On sentencing, the judge cited Section 8 (4) of the Sexual Offences Act which provides that:
"A person who commits an offence of defilement with a child between the age of sixteen and eighteen years is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than fifteen years."
After going through the case, he stated that the sentence was not harsh or excessive.
"In the facts of this case that is not the scenario to warrant interference by this court. The evaluation of the record shows the offence is serious. In the circumstances, 15 years' imprisonment is not excessive but appropriate sentence," the judgment on October 16, reads.
"I see no reason to interfere with the sentence imposed by the trial court. His appeal on sentence also fails. In the upshot, the appeal herein is dismissed."
Loporin will serve the sentence meted against him.