An Anambra State High Court, designated as a Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Court in Awka, has convicted and sentenced a 34-year-old schoolteacher, Pascal Ofomata, to 12 years imprisonment for raping an 11-year-old student.
The convict, a teacher at St. Christopher’s Junior Seminary in Onitsha, was found guilty of defiling a Junior Secondary 1 student under his care. During the trial, Ofomata denied penetrating the victim but admitted to coercing the boy into performing oral sex and kissing him.
Justice Peace Otti, presiding over the case, commended the prosecution counsel, Chinelo Akorah, for securing the conviction, noting the rarity of successful prosecutions in sexual offenses involving male victims. The court relied on testimonies from the investigating police officer and a medical examiner to establish the defendant’s guilt.
Ofomata had pleaded not guilty to a three-count charge, including rape, physical harm under the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, and sexual abuse under the Child’s Right Law of Anambra State. In addition to the prison term, the court barred him from future employment in institutions with minors, including primary, secondary, and tertiary schools.
