The Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo, the state capital, has sentenced a cleric, Prophet Anwana Peter Essien, of the Restoration Bible Church to prison for defiling his 10-year-old step daughter.
The court ruled that the preacher, whose church is located at Itiam Street, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, should spend 21 years of his life behind bars for committing the crime on 9th August, 2019.
It was gathered that the prophet, a native of Afaha Ise in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of the state, defiled the 10-year-old when she was in Junior Secondary School, year 1.
The mother of the victim was said to have brought her and her younger sister for holiday at their stepfather’s house.
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The convict in his evidence admitted to the crime saying that the “devil pushed him at midnight to forcefully have a carnal knowledge of his step daughter.”
In his judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Okon Okon, who condemned the act, held that the confession was direct and unequivocal that the convict committed the crime.
According to the High Court judge, the evidence of prosecution witnesses such as the medical report and the confessional statement have proven beyond every reasonable doubt that the convict was guilty of the crime.
Justice Okon sentenced the prophet to 21 years in jail but added that his sentence was with effect from the time the convict was taken into custody at the Uyo Custodial Centre.