High Court Sentences Farmer to 8 Years for Child Sexual Penetration in Kenema
The High Court Holden in Kenema has sentenced a farmer, Bobor Alfred of Jumu Kafabu Village, Nongowa Chiefdom, to eight years imprisonment for the offence of sexual penetration of a child.
The conviction was handed down on February 4, 2026, by Hon. Justice Abdul Sheriff. The accused was arraigned on a charge of Sexual Penetration of a Child contrary to Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Act No. 12 of 2012, as repealed and replaced by Section 4(a)(iii) of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act No. 8 of 2019.
According to the particulars of offence read in court by Registrar Thomas S. Sam, the convict committed the offence on September 30, 2025, at Jumu Kafabu Village in the Kenema Judicial District, Eastern Province. He was accused of engaging in sexual penetration with a seven-year-old child.
Upon the charge being read and explained to him, the accused pleaded guilty and appealed for mercy. He was represented by Patrick Kamara of the Legal Aid Board, who made a plea in mitigation, urging the court to temper justice with mercy.
In delivering judgment, Justice Abdul Sheriff said the court had considered the guilty plea, the mitigation advanced by defence counsel, and the tender age of the victim. He subsequently sentenced the convict to eight years imprisonment at the Sierra Leone Correctional Centre in Kenema.
In a separate matter before the same court, a 19-year-old resident of Lango Town Layout in Kenema, Ganawa Sesay, was discharged for want of prosecution.
The accused had been arraigned on one count of Larceny in a Dwelling House contrary to Section 13(a) of the Larceny Act 1916. The prosecution alleged that on July 22, 2025, he unlawfully entered the dwelling house of Bishop Sahr Fillie with intent to steal and made away with one black unregistered Star motorbike valued at Twenty-Four Thousand New Leones (NLe 24,000), property of Tamba Prince Kondeh.
Sesay pleaded not guilty to the charge. However, during the course of proceedings, the prosecution failed to produce any witness to substantiate the allegations.
Justice Abdul Sheriff consequently discharged the accused for want of prosecution.
Both matters were prosecuted by State Counsel and Customary Law Officer in Kenema, Andrew F. Kamara.
