Kisumu woman, 24, gets 15 years for defiling boy

Judith Wandera (centre) was guilty of defilement and performing indecent act with a minor. PHOTO | RUSHDIE OUDIA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • In her defence, Wandera claimed she could not establish that the boy was a minor on the first day they met.

  • She narrated to the court how they met and started dating, adding that looking at the physical appearance, she could not tell he was underage.

  • The Sexual Offences Act allows an accused to cite this as defence, especially when physical appearances look deceiving.

A 24-year-old woman, who stunned a Kisumu court after she admitted to having sex a minor, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Judith Wandera was on Wednesday found guilty of defilement and intentionally performing indecent act on a minor contrary to sexual offences act, on July 5, 2017 at Kicomi area.

7 WITNESSES

Seven witnesses testified against her in the case while she never presented any, only defending herself during the entire trial.

The magistrate, after considering all the evidence presented by the complainant, ruled that she agreed the two knew each other and had sex on numerous occasions.

Principal Magistrate Joan Wambilyanga in her judgement said the two were arrested on July 17, one year after they had started getting sexually involved.

“Both admitted having sex, sometimes protected, sometimes unprotected. According to her, she could not tell how many times they did it,” said Ms Wambilyanga.

In her defence, Wandera claimed she could not establish that the boy was a minor on the first day they met.

She narrated to the court how they met and started dating, adding that looking at the physical appearance, she could not tell he was underage.

The Sexual Offences Act allows an accused to cite this as defence, especially when physical appearances look deceiving.

But on this occasion, the court found that the woman made no efforts to establish whether the person she was dating was actually an adult.

MIGITATION

In court, Wandera further revealed that the boy, a boda boda operator, was also a drug abuser.

She indicated that the boy appeared young only when he was testifying in court.

But the magistrate dismissed the argument, saying according to sexual offences act, she should have shown the steps she took to establish the age of her ‘lover’.

“There was no evidence the complainant lied about his age and the accused’s defense was disregarded based on her failure to prove what steps she took to establish whether the boy was underage,” said Ms Wambilyanga.

She added that the two were arrested twice and on those occasions asked to stop the relationship after the complainant’s mother raised the age-difference issue, but the woman ignored.

“The mother was not happy because the woman was older,” said the magistrate.

In her mitigation, Wandera asked for forgiveness, saying she has a son, a brother and her mother she was taking care of.

“I am the only person taking care of all of them. Please forgive me I will never repeat the offence,” she pleaded.

Her pleas fell on deaf ears, as the court handed her the 15 years.