LAGOS – An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced Victor Dickson to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting his neighbour’s six-month-old child.
Justice Rahman Oshodi, delivering judgement on Monday, ruled that the Lagos State Government had proven the single charge of sexual assault by penetration beyond reasonable doubt. The circumstantial evidence, he said, was compelling and clearly showed that Dickson committed the offence.
The judge described Dickson as “not a witness of truth”, noting marked divergences between his oral evidence and his extrajudicial statement. “In your extrajudicial statement, you confirmed that you carried the child but never penetrated her vagina. However, in your oral evidence before this court, you denied ever carrying the child at all and alleged that the child’s mother was on a revenge mission because you turned down her sexual advance,” Justice Oshodi said.
He added that Dickson had shown no remorse, instead fabricating a false accusation that the survivor’s mother had made sexual advances towards him.
“The victim in this case is a six-month-old infant – among the most defenceless human beings in existence,” the judge stated. “Her mother testified how you carried her naked child from the potty while she was washing clothes outside. You betrayed the trust that the mother had in you by picking up the naked baby, carrying her into your room, closing your door and violating her. She cried throughout; she could not speak, and she could not call for help. Rather than acknowledge what you did, you constructed a false story designed to smear the reputation of the mother who recounted the worst day of her life.”
Justice Oshodi stressed that the survivor was a vulnerable child, and that there was a need to protect society and deter others from such “animalistic conduct”.
“I sentence you, Victor Dickson, to life imprisonment,” the judge declared. “You shall serve the sentence at the maximum security custodial centre. You shall also be registered as a sex offender under Sections 33 and 38 of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency Law, 2021.”
The state counsel, Inumidun Solarin, called three witnesses: the survivor’s mother and father, and an investigating police officer, Folashade Akinbowa. Dickson testified as the sole defence witness.
The prosecution told the court that Dickson committed the offence on 17 October 2021 at about 10:40am at No. 72 Iba Road, Ibeji Lekki, Lagos. He sexually assaulted the child by inserting his finger into her vagina, an act that contravenes Section 261 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
(NAN)
