A 24-year-old Kenyan woman who stunned a Kisumu court after she admitted to having sex a minor, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Ms Judith Wandera was on Wednesday found guilty of defilement and intentionally performing indecent act on a minor contrary to the Sexual Offences Act, on July 5, 2017 at Kicomi area. .
Seven witnesses testified against her in the case while she never presented any, only defending herself during the entire trial. The court, after considering all the evidence presented by the complainant, ruled that it agrees the two knew each other and had sexual intercourse on numerous occasions.
Principal Magistrate Ms Joan Wambilyanga, in his judgment, said the two were arrested on July 17, one year after they had started getting sexually involved. “Both admitted to 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, Ms Wandera claimed she could not establish on the first day they met, that he was a minor.
She narrated to the court how they met and started dating, adding that looking at the physical appearances, she could not tell he was under age.
The Sexual Offences Act actually allows an accused to cite this as defence, especially when physical appearance can be 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.
