REPUBLIC VRS TETTEH (D6/034/2024) [2024] GHACC 24 (3 January 2024)

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, CF-GBVC, DOVVSU HEADQUARTERS, HELD ON WEDNESDAY THE 3RD DAY OF JANUARY 2024 BEFORE HER HONOUR JUDGE DORA G. A. INKUMSAH ESHUN SUIT NO. D6/034/2024 THE REPUBLIC V. OKO TETTEH AKUETTEH TETTEH 1st Accused Person - present 2nd Accused Person - present Prosecutor - present; C.I. Gladys Aikins-Asare Investigator - present; Det. PW Insp. Agnes Akpelassi Accused Counsel - none Time: 9:28am 1st Accused Person We asked our uncle to help us find a lawyer and he agreed but when we called him he did not pick up. Count 1 Three Pleas and Charge are Read and Explained to A1 and A2 in Ga Verdict A2 Rep v. Oko Tetteh & Akuetteh Tetteh Jan 3, 2024 1 Statement of Offence Defilement of a female under 16 years of age: contrary to section 101(2) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). Particulars of Offence Oko Tetteh and Akuetteh Tetteh, traders: for that you on the 12th day of November 2023, at Tse Addo La in the Greater Accra Circuit and within the jurisdiction of this court, you did have sexual intercourse with one Mary Abbey, a female child aged 15 years. 1st Accused’s Plea As for me, the child has not been coming to my place, but she has been visiting my brother. Ruling on A1’s Plea Considering his explanation, the court enters a plea of “not guilty”. 2nd Accused’s Plea Please she has been coming to my place. The child allowed me to do it – to sleep with her. Prosecutor My lord this is her weighing card and medical report. 1. Weighing card for Mary Abbey Boye. Date of birth – 27 December 2008. Date first seen – 27 December 2008. 2. Medical report – filed by Dr. Moses Gati, signed on 27 November 2023. Verdict A2 Rep v. Oko Tetteh & Akuetteh Tetteh Jan 3, 2024 2 “Young female child, shy-looking with visible plain vaginal discharge, no bruising, no vaginal tenderness, hymen torn at regions of 1, 10 and 12 o’clock. Findings are suggestive of past vaginal penetration (more than one week).” Ruling on A2’s Plea Considering A2’s admission and the child’s weighing records confirming her birth date to be 27 December 2008, which according to the date calculator on the Time and Date Website makes her 14 years, 10 months 17 days as of 12 November 2023, a plea of “guilty” is entered for A2. The doctor’s report confirms the child had sexual intercourse over a week before she was seen on 27 November 2023. Prosecutor [Reads out the facts]. A2 I am not married. I have no children. I am 26 years old. The only person that came to me was the complainant’s daughter. Please, I make beads for sale at the beach. My parents are around. At first, we had some money coming in, but after the lockdown, business is not moving. There are some boys who come to me, and I teach them how to make beads. They like to play a lot when I am teaching them, so they don’t come again. Complainant Please, I am fine with them. We lived together as siblings. When I got to know what they did, it really disturbed me. I asked my daughter, she did not answer, so I asked my cousin to speak to her and then she started talking to him. At Korle-Bu, the doctor said he could not see any effect on her, but it might take three months. Her Verdict A2 Rep v. Oko Tetteh & Akuetteh Tetteh Jan 3, 2024 3 behaviour has changed. When I talk to her, she gives me cheeky answers. When I ask her to do something, she will not do it. I don’t understand what happened. A2 Before the child started coming to my place, I was seeing her with a guy called Ali. When I saw her, I was passing, and the lights were on. I stood there for a time and realized the child kept long with the guy. I stood there until she came out of the room and asked her why she kept long there, and she told me the guy was holding her breast. I asked her whether he had sex with her. When I asked her that question, she was shivering. I asked her again and she admitted to it. I have never been in trouble with the police. No one convinced, advised, or pressured me to plead guilty. Offence – defilement, 1st degree felony, 7 – 25 years. Aggravating factors • Large age difference. • Younger aged victim. Mitigating factors • Lesser violence/injury. • Relationship between accused person and child. Sentence Level – B, 7 – 10 years. Verdict A2 Rep v. Oko Tetteh & Akuetteh Tetteh Jan 3, 2024 4 VERDICT A2, Mr. Akuetteh Tetteh, is convicted on his own “guilty” plea of defiling Mary Abbey a 15 year old female child, contrary to section 101(2) of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). A2 is sentenced to 7 years imprisonment in hard labour at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison. A2 shall be enrolled in a work program during his incarceration. A2 shall pay the survivor’s medical bills related to the defilement. A2 shall compensate the survivor and the complainant with 500 penalty units. In sentencing A2, the Court has taken into consideration the fact that the accused is not known to the law, his young age, he had sex with a younger-aged victim with less violence or injury, and had a relationship with the child. The accused person has a right of appeal. A2 When I saw the survivor with the other man, she came to apologize to me because I said I would tell her mother. Then she attracted me. (SGD) DORA G. A. INKUMSAH ESHUN CIRCUIT JUDGE Verdict A2 Rep v. Oko Tetteh & Akuetteh Tetteh Jan 3, 2024 5 Verdict A2 Rep v. Oko Tetteh & Akuetteh Tetteh Jan 3, 2024 6