KWADWO JOSHUA, a 45-year-old chainsaw operator, who has been convicted for defilement, says his 10-year-old victim is responsible for her rape.
He told the Bekwai Circuit Court after pleading guilty to the offence that the pupil of Duapompo D/A Primary School girl forced herself on him on the night of August 6, 2013.
Unable to exercise self-control having taken in alcohol, Kwadwo Joshua said he unleashed his libido on the underage girl.
But the presiding judge, Daniel Kwaku Obeng, who did not buy his explanation, accordingly slapped him with a 15-year jailed sentence with hard labour.
Prosecuting, Police Detective Sergeant Stephen Ofori informed the court that both the convict, Kwadwo Joshua aka King Joe and the victim lived in the same vicinity at the Duaponpo village, near Adansi Awiaso.
According to him, on August 6, 2013, mother of the victim, Ama Dadewa, a farmer, travelled to another village and left her daughter, who suffered from epileptic seizures, under the care of a co-tenant.
The prosecution said the complainant did not return home, and the victim, at about 10:00pm, stepped out to pass urine. D/Sergt. Ofori narrated that Kwadwo Joshua called the 10-year-old girl upon setting eyes on her and proposed love to the victim.
He told the victim he could cure her of her sickness if he was allowed to insert his manhood into her vagina in order to exorcise the spirit behind the ailment, prosecution claimed.
The police prosecutor continued that the victim did not budge, but the convict who was bent on satisfying his libido dragged her to his room and forcibly had sex with her.
The court heard that not even the screams for help by the victim could deter the 45-year-old man with five children from discontinuing his action.
She, however, managed to go home after the convict pushed her out of his room. Prosecution said the caretaker, on the following day, discovered that the victim could not walk properly and therefore enquired of her what was amiss.
The 10-year-old narrated her ordeal to the caretaker, who called her mother to inform her. The mother lodged a complaint with the police, leading to the arrest of Kwadwo Joshua.
D/Sgt. Ofori concluded that the convict admitted to the offence in his caution statement and was charged and arraigned after investigations by police.