A man who had been found guilty of defiling a minor had his 10-year sentence enhanced to life imprisonment after lodging an appeal.
Joseph, 64, was sentenced to a decade in jail by a Kirinyaga Court three years ago for defiling his six-year-old granddaughter.
He would then file an appeal seeking to overturn both the conviction and sentence.
However, High Court Judge Justice Lucy Gitari, faulted the magistrate for the lenient sentence.
She said the age of the girl had been proved to be six years and therefore improper for the Magistrate to impose such a lenient sentence when the Sexual Offences Act provides for stiffer penalties.
Dismissing Joseph’s appeal, Justice Gitari said the evidence adduced before the trial magistrate met the threshold because it was corroborated by the evidence of those who came to the girl’s rescue, her mother, and medical evidence.
“She is an innocent child. There is no reason to doubt her evidence,” Justice Gitari said.
The incident occurred October 3, 2014 in Baricho, when the young girl was sent by her mother to fetch something from her grandfather. The minor took long to return, prompting her mother to go looking for her.
She got a rude shock to find her father defiling the minor. The girl was rescued by members of the public and the grandpa was frog-marched to Kiangwaci Police Post.
