Anwana Peter Essien, a Prophet in Akwa Ibom State, was found guilty of raping his 10-year-old stepdaughter and received a 21-year prison term.
The verdict was issued by an Akwa Ibom State High Court as it was hearing the rape case at its Okoita, Ibiono Local Government Area headquarters.
The JSS One student was allegedly raped by the 37-year-old prophet, who is from Afaha Ise in the Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, on August 9, 2019, while her mother was taking her and her younger sister on vacation with their stepfather at Itiam Street, Uyo.
The convict in his evidence before the court had confessed that it was a demon that pushed him in the midnight to forcefully remove the clothes of his stepdaughter and had unlawful carnal knowledge of her.
The court that was presided over by Justice Okon Okon held that the confession was “direct, positive and unequivocal that the randy stepfather had sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter.”
Justice Okon said that “the parameters established for the proof of rape, have all been satisfied by the evidence of the prosecution witnesses, including the victim and the medical doctor who examined her, fortified by the confessional statement voluntarily made by the accused person himself.”
In his testimony before the court, the defendant admitted that he had unlawful carnal knowledge of his stepdaughter and that a demon had compelled him to forcefully remove her clothes in the middle of the night.
The confession was deemed “direct, positive, and unequivocal” by the court, which was presided over by Justice Okon Okon, who stated that it “showed the randy stepfather had sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter.
The victim’s testimony and the testimony of the doctor who examined her, according to Justice Okon, “have all satisfied the boundaries imposed for the proof of rape, strengthened by the confessional admission freely provided by the accused individual himself.”
The court further held that “it is most despicable and depressing that the supposed man of God overpowered and defiled an innocent child of about 10 years who is incidentally, his own stepdaughter.”
Justice Okon described the conduct as “bizarre and degrading,” saying that “the defendant lacks any claim of moral rectitude having thrown overboard the limits of his liberties by shamelessly stripping and polluting the dignity, chastity and sanctity of his stepdaughter’s body and totally disregarding her underage status.”
The court found Essien guilty as charged and accordingly convicted him.
According to Justice Okon, the sentence of 21 years in prison began the moment the defendant was taken into custody at the Custodial Center in Uyo.
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