Co-tenant jailed 15 years for defilement

A 35-year-old trader who defiled and impregnated a co-tenant’s 13-year-old daughter at Kaneshie has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court.

Emmanuel Tugah, father of three, charged with defilement, pleaded guilty.

Tugah informed the court that he had had sex with the victim on three occasions without giving her money and that he was prepared to take care of her.

The court, presided over by Mrs Christina Cann, convicted Tugah on his own plea and sentenced him accordingly.

Handing down the 15-year jail term, the court said it took into consideration the age of the victim and the fact that she was pregnant and her education had been truncated.

The court also considered the seriousness of the offence and its prevalence within the country and the premeditation with which the accused person had sex with the victim.

It said the sentence was to serve as a deterrent to other like-minded persons.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Agnes Boafo, who held brief for Chief Inspector Kofi Atimbire, said the complainant was a trader residing at Kaneshie in Accra and mother of the victim.

Prosecution said the complainant and Tugah were co-tenants and on April 1, this year, the victim’s father noticed that she was pregnant.

When the victim was quizzed, she told her father that Tugah had been having sex with her but she did not know she was pregnant.

She said the victim’s father passed the information on to the complainant and on April 2, this year, a report was made to the police.

A police medical form was issued to the complainant to seek treatment for the victim.

On April 7 Tugah was arrested and during investigations admitted having sex with the victim on three occasions in 2020.