A 35-year-old clergyman, Gabriel Asateru, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment by an Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, for molesting a minor.
Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Oluwatoyin Abodunde said, “The accused person stands guilty and is accordingly convicted to serve a prison term of five years and to also pay a sum of N50,000 fine as stipulated by the Child’s Rights Law, 2005.”
Asateru, who was accused of defiling a five-year-old girl on December 23, 2016, at Ifisin Ekiti in the Ido/Osi Local Government Area of the state, was charged with one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
The clergyman was said to have taken to his heels after committing the act but was arrested by the police.
The case was first heard in January 2018.
The offence, according to the charge sheet, was contrary to Section 31 of the Child’s Rights Law Cap 7, Laws of Ekiti State Nigeria, 2005.
