Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of an Ikeja Special Offences Court, on Monday, sentenced a 31-year-old teacher, Idowu Daniel, to seven years imprisonment for sexually assaulting his 16-year-old student within the school premises.
The convict was charged with defilement, but escaped a life jail, owing to the fact that the victim refused to appear in court to testify.
Justice Taiwo held that the prosecution failed to establish the charge of defilement against the defendant, as the survivor failed to show up in court to testify. She however sentenced the convict based in his testimony to the police that he indeed assaulted the student.
“However, the confessional statement by the defendant, which was made voluntarily, showed that he sexually assaulted the minor.
“The defendant admitted to have fondled the breast of the victim twice and tried to have sex with her but he could not penetrate as she was a virgin.
“The defendant is hereby convicted on the charge of sexual assault of a child,” she said.
The convict pleaded for mercy when he was asked if he had anything to say.
“My lord, I am very sorry for what happened. I promise it will not happen again,” the convict told the court.
The judge also lashed out at the convict for touching the survivor in a suggestive way, adding that he would have gotten life imprisonment if the minor had testified in court.
“You are a teacher and you were touching the breast of your student. You would have gone for life if the victim had come to court to testify.
The judge, who had earlier sentenced the convict to five years imprisonment, however, increased his jail term to seven years without an option of fine after saying that he had been in custody for three years.
