Driver jailed 15 years for defiling 13-year-old stepdaughter

A 47-year-old driver who had sex with his 13-year-old stepdaughter at Tetegu in Accra, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the Gender Based Court at the Police headquarters.

Joseph Yankson is said to have taken advantage of the absence of the victim’s mother and defiled her twice.

He repeated the act after promising to appease the victim’s family with sheep.

Charged with defilement, Yankson pleaded guilty.

The court presided over by Dora Eshun Inkumasah convicted Yankson on his own plea.

Chief Inspector Opoku Aniagyie, who held brief of Chief Inspector Simon Tekpor, narrated that the complainant was a teacher and a friend of the mother of the victim.

The prosecution said the accused person, now a convict, was the stepfather of the victim.

It is the case of the prosecution that the victim together with her mother, other siblings, and the accused person lived in the same house at Tetegu, near Weija in Accra.

In 2023, the prosecution said the victim’s mother travelled to Ajumako to visit some family relations and left the children in the care of the accused person.

The Court heard that the accused person took advantage of the absence of his wife and had sexual intercourse with the victim.

The prosecution said the victim informed her mother on her return.

It said the victim’s mother then summoned the accused person before some family heads and while deliberating on the matter, Yankson admitted the offence and promised to appease the victim’s family with a sheep.

On December 26, 2023, in the evening, Yankson had another sexual intercourse with the victim.

The prosecution said the victim narrated her ordeal to the complainant and on January 4, 2024, a complainant was lodged with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, Weija Divisional Police Command, and a medical form was issued to the complainant to send the victim to hospital for examination and treatment.