Father of five jailed for molesting seven-year-old niece

A MARRIED man with five children has been convicted of molesting his seven-year-old niece and jailed for five years.
The 45-year-old man, who cannot be named because it might identify his victim, was charged with sexually touching a minor.
He is from Kesevaka village in Henganofi, Goroka.
He was sentenced on Monday.
The accused had sexually molested his niece on August 9 last year when she was seven years-old.
National Court Judge Joseph Yagi considered three aggravating factors which made having a custodial sentence necessary.
They were the big age difference between the accused and his victim, the breach of trust (victim was the accused’s niece) and the age of the child.  The offence was committed on Aug 9, 2016, at about 1pm as the victim left her grandmother at Mambu Market and returned home to Matrix Corner, Goroka.
The accused approached her as she was playing with a ball and lured her with a K1 coin, saying that she would get the money if she followed him.
The accused took her into the family house, sat her on his lap, and removed his trousers and the girl’s pants.
When he touched her, she cried out in pain.
The victim’s sister entered the room, but the accused quickly dressed and denied any wrongdoing when he was questioned.
The little girl told her grandmother what happened.
In sentencing the accused, Yagi acknowledged that imprisonment would adversely affect the welfare of the man’s five children but the accused was aware of that risk when committing the offence.
Yagi sentenced him to five years imprisonment at Bihute, in Eastern Highlands, but deducted one year, two months for time already served.