Sexual offence law protects children, women

THE law on sexual offences, in particular the amended provisions of the Criminal Code, are designed to protect children and women, a judge says.
Justice Salatiel Lenalia highlighted this on Tuesday at the National Court circuit at Kerevat in East New Britain when he sentenced an elderly man –  Allan Ria – to eight years and six months in jail for the persistent sexual penetration of an under aged girl.
He said with the amended provisions penalties imposed by judges for sexual abuse cases have seen increased recently. “Children are so vulnerable to circumstances beyond their control,” he said.
The court considered that there was a large age gap between the victim and the prisoner. The victim was seven years old when the prisoner began abusing her.
“After each time you abused her, you threatened her not to tell anyone,” Lenalia told the prisoner.
The offence on the victim was persistent whereby the prisoner used his fingers to penetrate the victim’s private parts, until her mother found out.
The period which the offences were committed was between Jan 1 and 4, 2016.
The court further ordered the prisoner’s wife and his brother to pay a compensation of K1000 to the victim and her mother within three months.