- He pleaded not guilty before Narok Resident Magistrate Daniel Ngayo.
- The case will be mentioned on April 23, 2024, when the court will also rule on pre-bail sentence.
Image: FILE
A 30-year-old man has been arraigned in a Narok court and charged with defiling a 18-month-old baby at Sakutiek area in Narok East Subounty.
Court heaerd that Brian Mecha Ongeri committed the heinous act on April 12, 2024, when he was left to take care of the child.
He pleaded not guilty before Narok Resident Magistrate Daniel Ngayo.
The court heard that the baby, who weighs 10 kilogrammes, was taken to Narok County Referral Hospital for treatment where it was confirmed that she had been defiled.
The incident was repoprted at Sakutiek police station, following which a police officer rushed the baby to the hospital for medical attention.
The case will be mentioned on April 23, 2024, when the court will also rule on pre-bail sentence.
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 offence, upon conviction, carries the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
“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," the law says.
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.
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.