High Court reduces jail sentence for man who defiled 14-year-old girl

A man who was sentenced to 25 years for defilement has had his term reduced after a judge ruled the trial court failed to provide specific reasons for the enhanced punishment.

David Amai had appealed against his conviction and subsequent sentencing by the magistrate’s court in July last year.

Amai had been found guilty of defiling 14-year-old SAO, a neighbour in Gathondeki, Dagoretti.

The prosecution’s case rested on the testimony of the minor, who recounted how Amai pulled her into his house while she was fetching water, locked the door and committed the act on a chair.

During the appeal, Amai’s legal team challenged the admissibility of the minor’s evidence, arguing that the trial court erred by failing to conduct a voir dire examination—a procedural inquiry used to determine if a child understands the nature of an oath. 

However, Kibera High Court judge Diana Kavedza on Thursday dismissed this technicality, saying such examinations are reserved for children typically under the age of 10.

As the complainant was 14 at the time of the offence, she was competent to testify without the preliminary inquiry.

Medical testimony from Médecins Sans Frontières(MSF) revealed recent traumatic injuries, which the court found were compatible with the assault described. 

Her aunt testified that on December 30, 2023, she sent the minor outside to pour dirty water, but was concerned when she took unusually long to return. 

The aunt went in search of her, only to find her back in the house later. 

“Upon inquiry, SAO disclosed that she had been at David’s house. PW1 [witness] then went to the appellant’s house, questioned why he had been with the minor with the lights off and subsequently reported the matter to the police. The minor was taken to hospital for examination, where it was confirmed that David had defiled her,” court documents show. 

In his defence, Amai said he was arrested on the allegation but never committed the offence.

He claimed that at the police station, officers demanded Sh500,000 to have the case dropped.

Amai acknowledged that the minor alleged he had defiled her and locked her inside his house, but he disputed this, asserting that his house had no external locks capable of confining anyone.

He further said that he and the aunt had a prior grudge, which he suggested motivated the complaint.

Justice Kavedza said that the appellant’s defence was inconsistent and wholly implausible when weighed against the complainant’s detailed, credible and unshaken testimony.

However, the High Court took issue with the length of the prison term. 

Under the Sexual Offences Act, defilement of a child aged between 12 and 15 years carries a minimum sentence of 20 years. 

"The law does not impose a mandatory maximum sentence. The sentencing court therefore retains discretion to impose a sentence above the minimum,” the judge said.

“Although the trial court indicated that it had considered mitigation, no reasons were given for enhancing the sentence beyond the minimum prescribed by law.

“In the absence of identifiable aggravating circumstances, a sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment was excessive. The objectives of punishment would have been adequately met by the minimum sentence provided under the statute.”

The judge scaled back the sentence to the statutory minimum of 20 years—noting also that Amai was a first-time offender—to run from the date of the original conviction.