Uncle sentenced to 7 years and 11 months for sexual assault

Sexual assault upon young children in this country by close family members must be severely punished.” These were the comments of Nausori Magistrate Shageeth Somaratne when sentencing a 64-year-old man convicted of sexual assault.

The accused has been sentenced to 7 years and 11 months imprisonment for sexually assaulting his 6-year-old niece in 2015. Mr Somaratne said: “The perpetrators that engage in this despicable conduct must serve long prison sentences, not only to punish them but to deter others who might have similar inclinations.

“Only through these kinds of harsh sentences, these offences can be stopped and children can be protected.”

The Court heard that the incident occurred in 2015.

The victim was then 6-years-old and was playing until the accused called her into an empty house. Mr Somaratne while reading the sentence said that in that empty house the accused removed the victim’s clothes and touched her private parts.

It was further stated that the accused then asked the victim whether she would be prepared to have sexual intercourse with him which she was not aware about.

After the incident the victim reported the matter to her grandmother.

For aggravating factors Mr Somaratne said that by committing the offence the accused had breached the trust of the victim.

For mitigating factors the court considered that the accused was married with four children and was also suffering from some illness.

The non-parole period is for 5 years.