The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Masaka, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Masaka High Court has sentenced a 72 year old man to 12 years imprisonment for defiling a 6 year old girl.
Masaka High Court Judge Lady Justice Hon. Victoria Nakintu Katamba sentenced Fred Muswogo to 12 year imprisonment after pleading guilty to the offense.
Masaka resident state prosecutor Richard Willy Bomboka told the court that Muswogo, a resident of Kamese landing site in Kalangala district committed the offense on 26th June 2018 when he locked the minor in his house and defiled her.
He says that by the time Muswogo committed the offense, the minor had gone to his home to play with her colleagues that lived in the neighborhood.
Bomboka says that cases of defilement are high in the region asking the court to give him a heavy punishment that will deter other men like him from committing such a crime since it is court’s duty to protect children’s rights.
The defense lawyer Brenda Ainomugisha told the court that Muswogo is a first-time offender and he seems to be remorseful for the crime he committed asking the court to give him a simple sentence since he did not even waste courts time.
Ainomugisha also told the court that Muswogo had spent 2 years and 7 months on remand, adding that since he is an elderly person, he should be given a simpler jail term he can serve and go back home given that he is the sole breadwinner of his family.
The presiding Judge said that Muswogo violated the trust the minor had in him as an older person and took away her innocence by defiling her something which affected her physically and physiologically.
She said that she has considered the fact that he has spent 2 years and months in prison sentencing him to spend more 9 years and five months in prison to make it 12 years.
“You have been convicted on your own plea of guilty to the offense of defilement, considering the mitigating factors you will serve 9 years and 5 months starting today( Friday) you have a right to appeal the ruling within 14 days” she added.
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