Man guilty of sexual abuse after medical evidence obtained

By BOURA GORUKILA
NATIONAL Court Judge George Manuhu yesterday found a man guilty of persistent sexual abuse after medical evidence was obtained to support the nature of the assault.
Evidence included healed grazes on the man’s genitals and other signs of sexual engagement.
Justice Manuhu found the medical evidence report undisputable and remanded Jack Mathew.
“The evidence shows that the man, on more than one occasion, sexually touched the complainant and, on two occasions, sexually penetrated her with his fingers and penis,” he said. The man, from Mt Hagen, lived near the complainant and her family’s house in Port Moresby and the family knew him.
She (complainant) gave her evidence confidently that Mathew had sexually assaulted her between Aug 1, 2016, and March 30, 2017, when she was under the age of 16 years.
She claimed that she was sexually assaulted twice, on Aug 28, 2016, then towards the end of Feb 2017 and on March 6, 2017, at Pari Road.
The matter came to light on March 22, 2017 when the girl’s father picked up his wife’s mobile phone and saw the conversation between the complainant and Mathew through messenger on Facebook.
The father recognised and identified the man through his profile picture.
“Obviously, the complainant used her mother’s mobile phone to log in to her Facebook account and did not log out when she finished,” Justice Manuhu read in his judgment.
“One of the messages from the man was for the complainant to send him a photo of her private part.”
The father was shocked and proceeded to question the complainant straight away.
The complainant told him about what had been going on between her and the man.
The matter was reported to police the next day and Mathew was later arrested.
Mathew denied the allegations claiming that they were false.
He claimed that he and the complainant’s father had a fight once where he was victorious so the allegations were made up to get back at him. Justice Manuhu said: “I don’t think a father would make up such a story that would drag his daughter out of school to be tangled up in a long criminal process, let alone being interviewed by police and giving evidence before a judge.
“No sane father would want his daughter to carry the stigma as a victim of sexual assault.
“Similarly, I don’t think a daughter so young would conspire with the father to get even with the man just because of a fight.
“The father has denied such fight taking place.
“The denial by the man was not put to the complainant so her story is not tainted in any way.
“The complainant’s story about the man picking her and driving to Pari Road was never contradicted.
“Ultimately, her story and her impressive demeanor in court makes her a credible witness.
“On the other hand, the man does not impress me with his unrealistic claims.” The case was adjourned to May 20 for a presentence report.