Grandfather accused of abusing girl

By BOURA GORUKILA
A 35-YEAR-old-man charged with persistent sexual abuse of a child was remanded by Waigani Committal Court Magistrate Tracy Ganaii on Monday.
The Goilala man was alleged to have engaged in the persistent molestation of the child, then three years old.
The child, who will be turning five in September, is his grand-daughter and to protect her identity, The National decided not to identify the man.
When she was three, her parents often left her with him to go to the garden or market.
She was abused on several occasions between Jan 1, 2018, and June 25, 2020, when she revealed the abuse.
The victim recalled that at one time between the dates during the day, the man took her into a house and rubbed his penis on her anus and fondled her.
On another occasion, he took her outside the house to a nearby bush and touched her privates.
Most recently, he offered her some ripe bananas as she sat on his lap.
While she was on his lap, he licked her vagina and then held
it.
He then put her on the grass and removed his trousers and told her to perform oral sex on him but she refused so he fondled her privates instead.
She tried to tell her parents but he had been distracting her until June 25 when she finally told her story.
The man was taken to the police station where he was arrested and charged with persistent sexual abuse under Section 229D (1) of the Criminal Code and Sexual Offences and Crimes against Children’s Act.
His case was adjourned for a month to allow the committal process to take its course.