Ifeanyi Ndieze was sentenced to life in prison by Justice Abiola Soladoye of the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court for sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl in a church.
On Tuesday, October 3, 2023, the court ruled that the prosecution had properly proven the accusation of sexual assault by penetration against Ndieze under Section 261 of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015.
The child identified the defendant as the man who carried her during a religious event and sexually molested her by placing his finger into her private parts, according to the judge.
“The child was taken home, and while the mother bathed her, she was bleeding uncontrollably. At the hospital, doctors said that the matter should be reported to the police,” the judge held.
“The child, at the police station, was bleeding still, while her underwear, soaked with blood, was removed and taken as an exhibit. The child, when taken to the hospital, was in severe pain and found to have been forcibly penetrated.”
The convict, she said, was a disgraceful spectacle.
“The defendant is a pathological liar as he tried to deny the offence. This is an unforgivable behaviour. The defendant is hereby found guilty of sexually assaulting the four-year-old child, and he is hereby sentenced to life in prison,” Soladoye held.
She further stated that the convict’s name should be entered into the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Register.
The judge advised parents to provide enough care for their children.
“The mother of the child should not have left her with her elder brother, a six-year-old boy,” Soladoye held.
Mrs Olufunke Adegoke of Lagos State Counsel presented four witnesses and four exhibits against the convict.
The convict, together with his sister, nephew, and niece, testified in his defence.
According to the Lagos State Government, which prosecuted the case, the convict committed the crime on Salau Street in Lagos on October 29, 2020.
