• Section 8 of the Sexual Offences Act says a person who commits an act which causes penetration with a child is guilty of an offence termed defilement.
• The Sexual Offences Act stipulates less punitive punishment to persons found guilty of defiling a child aged between 12 and 15 years.
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A court in Homa Bay has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for defiling his 14-year-old daughter and impregnating her.
Homa Bay Senior Principal Magistrate Charles Soiutai passed the sentence on Friday saying the prosecution led by Gloria Mokua proved the case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
According to the Office of Public Prosecution, the court relied on the testimonies of five prosecution witnesses.
Section 8 of the Sexual Offences Act says a person who commits an act which causes penetration with a child is guilty of an offence termed defilement.
“A person who commits an offence of defilement with a child aged 11 years or less shall upon conviction be sentenced to imprisonment for life.
Section 11 (1) of the same law says any person who commits an indecent act with a child is guilty of committing an indecent act with a child and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years.
Defilement of a child aged above 11
The Sexual Offences Act stipulates less punitive punishment to persons found guilty of defiling a child aged between 12 and 15 years.
Upon conviction, it says an accused person shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than 20 years.
The maximum sentence drops further to not less than 15 years if an accused person is found guilty of defiling a child aged between 16 and 18 years.
“It is a defence if it is proved that such child, deceived the accused person into believing that he or she was over the age of 18 years at the time of the alleged commission of the offence, and the accused person reasonably believed that the child was over the age of 18 years,” the law says.
It adds that such a defence will, however, only be considered upon a determination that the accused person took steps to ascertain the age of the complainant.
“The provisions shall not apply if the accused person is related to such child within the prohibited degrees of blood or affinity.”
“Where the person charged with an offence under this Act is below the age of 18 years, the court may upon conviction, sentence the accused person in accordance with the provisions of the Borstal Institutions Act and the Children’s Act.
The main objectives of Borstal institution are correction, rehabilitation and reintegration and only admit boys who are considered to a children in conflict with the law.