Man, 72, bags life imprisonment for defiling neighbour’s 7-year-old daughter

Man, 72, bags life imprisonment for defiling neighbour’s 7-year-old daughter

In Lagos State, one David Jackson has been sentenced to life imprisonment for defiling his neighbour’s seven-year-old daughter.

Jackson, a 72-year-old security guard, was convicted and sentenced by the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday.

The presiding judge, Justice Abiola Soladoye, handed down the judgment after she held that the prosecution had proved the three ingredients of defilement against him beyond reasonable doubt

Delivering her judgment, Soladoye held that the victim was seven years old when the septuagenarian committed the crime, but was eight years old when she testified before the court and identified Jackson as a gateman in one of the houses on her street.

She held, “A brother of the survivor sent her on an errand on this day and when she passed and greeted the convict, Jackson, he dragged her inside the room and she shouted but he used his handkerchief to cover her mouth.

“The testimony of the survivor was clear, consistent and coherent under cross-examination.

“The second prosecution witness was a teacher who identified the survivor as her student and she testified that one of her classmates had reported to her that the survivor was not feeling well and that she was walking in a funnily way.

“The teacher, in her evidence, stated that she made an inquiry and discovered that the survivor was complaining of pains on her private parts and that someone had sexually assaulted her.”