By Foday Moriba Conteh
It was indeed a momentous day in the history of the Judiciary of Sierra Leone as on the 7th December 2020 a total of seven (7) accused persons standing trial at the Sexual Offences Model Court (SOMC) for sexual penetration and its related offences were sentenced to serve various years in jail at the correctional center.
This was the first time seven (7) accused persons in just three (3) days since the court was established on Friday the 24th July 2020.
On Thursday, 3rd December, Justice Manuella Harding J, convicted Brima Koroma to serve an imprisonment term of fifteen (15) years at the correctional center for sexually penetrating a fourteen-year-old pupil at Ogoo Farm in the West end of Freetown. On Friday, 4th December, 2020, Justice Manuella Harding J, also sentenced Tamba Foday for penetrating a child under the age of eighteen years.
In similar development, Justice Komba Kamanda JA, sentenced Augustine Bangura; Abdul Bangura and Mohamed Pessima to ten years imprisonment each, for sexually penetrating children below eighteen years of age.
On Monday 7th December, Justice Alhaji Momo-Jah Stevens JA, sentenced 24-year old Amadu Bah of No. 4 Bass Street in Freetown to ten years imprisonment and 36-year old Arnold Samuel Beckley, a petty trader to fifteen years imprisonment.
Before delivering his judgement, Justice Momo-Jah Stevens gave stern warning to sexual offenders, stressing that, “this is a warning to those who are still engaged in committing sexual offences. We would continue to make crime of this nature very costly and expensive.”
He said those who are in the habit of destroying the integrity and dignity of women and children will be prosecuted and dealt with as provided for in the Sexual Offences amendment Act of 2019, Act No. 8 of 2019.
According to the medical reports at the time of examination, there were no physical injuries seen. The genital findings also revealed that the hymen of both victims were completed ruptured but the anal findings showed that the victims were normal.
