47-year-old man caught defiling teenage niece in kitchen

Police have arrested a 47-year-old male resident of Imbaka Village in Khwisero Constituency, Kakamega County after he was on Tuesday night (July 21) caught defiling his 13-year-old niece.

A trap was laid to catch Patrick Emali after the minor’s siblings reported to their father (Emali’s brother) that the suspect usually comes to the kitchen where they sleep and defiles their sister.

On Tuesday 11pm -- as had been the norm -- Emali allegedly went to the kitchen, where the children sleep and embarked on sexually abusing his victim, a Class Seven pupil.

However, before he could leave the scene, the minor’s father and a few neighbours stormed the kitchen and found a naked Emali in the process of putting on his clothes.

When confronted, the suspect said that he and the minor had been in a “consensual sexual relationship” for a while now.

The girl’s father called the area assistant chief, Anne Necheza, who arrived in the company of police officers from Khwisero post.

“When we arrested him, he confessed that he has been abusing the girl sexually. According to him, the girl has been consenting to the sex. However, we all know that legally, the minor is not in a position to agree to any form of sexual intercourse,” Necheza told K24 Digital.

“On the night that we caught him in the act with the child, we rescued the girl and took her to Mulwanda Health Centre, where it was ascertained that she had been sexually penetrated. STDs and pregnancy tests, however, returned negative results,” added the assistant chief.

“The suspect has been taken to Khwisero Police Station, where he is being held in custody. The child said she has been a victim of sexual abuse by the suspect for long now.

“I vow to ensure that the suspect is arraigned and faces the full breadth of the law; I won’t allow the suspect and the girl’s father to enter an out-of-court settlement on the matter. This is a minor’s life we are talking about.”

If found guilty of sexually abusing the minor, Emali will spend at least 20 years in jail, according to Kenya's Sexual Offences Act.

Section 8, Sub-Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2006 states: “A person who commits an offence of defilement with a child between the age of twelve and fifteen years is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty years.”