Father Receives Life Sentence for Sexually Assaulting His Children
In a significant ruling on Monday, Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sentenced Ademola Oladimeji, a father, to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting his three children, aged five, seven, and nine.
During the delivery of judgment, the judge affirmed the believability and truthfulness of the evidence presented by the prosecution witnesses.
Justice Soladoye specifically noted that the evidence established the offense of sexual assault by penetration, distinguishing it from defilement.
The survivors, aged five, seven, and nine, provided pieces of evidence that were further corroborated by both the investigative police officer and their mother, according to Justice Soladoye.
She highlighted, “Upon a careful review of the evidence before the court, the children did not say their father inserted his penis into their ‘bum bum’; they only said he touched their ‘bum bum.'”Observing the children’s testimonies, the judge emphasized their consistency, stating, “They did not lie against their father; they did not say he used his penis, he only used his fingers.
” The children detailed the multiple instances in which their father violated their innocence by inserting his fingers into their vaginas.The wife of the defendant supported the children’s accounts, testifying that they complained of pain in their private parts.
She was informed at the Mirabel Medical Centre that the children had been sexually assaulted.Justice Soladoye pointed out the convict’s desperation to distance himself from the allegations by denying the offenses. She expressed skepticism about his narration, stating, “To the mind of this court, I do not believe his narration; though he denied fiddling with his daughters, his testimony did not add up.
“Concluding her remarks, the judge asserted, “The court holds that there was penetration as oral and documentary evidence before the court pointed to the fact that the convict messed around with the purity of his three children.”The judge condemned the conduct of the convict as despicable, morally corrupt, incestuous, and against the order of nature.
While acknowledging that the prosecution failed to establish the three counts of defilement, Justice Soladoye changed the charges to sexual assault by penetration, convicting Oladimeji on each count.Oladimeji received a life sentence for each count, with the judge specifying that the sentences would run concurrently.
Additionally, the judge ordered the registration of the convict’s name in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.
During the trial, state counsel Mrs. Olufunke Adegoke presented five witnesses who testified against the convict, while the convict himself testified as the sole witness in his defense.Credit: Punch News