Man accused of stealing child, extortion freed due to lack of evidence

A MAN accused of taking part in stealing a child and trying to extort payment from the child’s mother was acquitted by the National Court yesterday because of insufficient evidence.
Acting judge Justice Tracy Ganaii agreed with a no-case-to-answer submission made by Lyo Matai, saying the State failed to tender in court the victim’s statements to allow Matai to respond to them.
It was alleged that around 11am on March 3, 2016, outside a hotel in Port Moresby, the mother was doing her marketing when a group of men took her one-year-old child away.
One of them took the child to 3-Mile and allegedly sold the toddler to Matai for K800. It was also alleged that on March 7, 2016, Matai called the child’s mother, informing her that they had her child and asked for money to have the child returned.
Justice Ganaii said the State could have charged Matai with another offence.
“One that stands out is Section 82 of the Lukautim Pikinini Act (which) states that a person who sells a child for their personal gain is guilty of an offence,” she said.
The maximum penalty for the offence is five years imprisonment.
Justice Ganaii said the State had called a single witness to prove that Matai had taken the child.
“In my view, the evidence was not sufficient to sustain all those statements,” she said.
“Prima facie, the evidence is not sufficient.
“The victim is not here and did not give evidence.
“The State did not tender in her statement too, so I find that there is no prima facie evidence to call you to respond to the charge.”