Mason Gets 20 Years For Defiling Girl, 3

By Fidelia Achama

A 34-year-old mason, Isaac Teiko Tagoe, who defiled a three-year-old girl, was yesterday sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the offence by an Accra Circuit Court.

The accused person was arraigned after the victim informed her mum about the ordeal she went through when she had gone to play in his (accused) house with his nieces.

However, the accused told police after his arrest that he only brushed his penis against the vagina of the victim after pushing her panties aside.

The Trial Judge, Sedina Agbemava, who sentenced the accused, said she found that the suspect had indeed defiled the three-year-old and said the prosecution had been able to prove their case against the suspect's guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

According to her, the mason, apart from denying the offence, failed to call a witness to corroborate his evidence and said whatever he said in his defence was an afterthought.

She went ahead to hand the suspect a 20 year sentence for the act.

The facts of the case as presented by Sarah Ekua are that the complainant, Sarah Tetteh, is a petty trader and mother of the three-year-old victim while the mason is a resident of Akweteman near Achimota.

She said the victim who lives with her mother often went to the house of the accused to play with the nieces of the mason, adding that on August 24, 2013 at about 10:00am, the victim returned from the accused person's house and informed her mother that the accused called her into his room, forcibly removed her panties and inserted his penis into her vagina.

According to her, the complainant noticed changes in the victim's manner of walking and proceeded to the house of the suspect where he informed the elder brother of the mason, and after that made a report to the Tesano Police.

The police officer noted that a medical form was issued for her to seek for a medical treatment at hospital, after which the case was transferred to the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) and the accused was consequently arrested.

Furthermore, she said the accused was arrested and admitted he only brushed his penis against the girl's vagina but did not have sex with her.

She said he was arraigned after police concluded investigations.

By Fidelia Achama