Child rapist jailed 14 years
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Child rapist jailed 14 years
PORT MORESBY: A 31-year-old man was jailed 14 years with hard
labour by the National Court in Waigani for raping a six-year-old girl near a
church in Port Moresby in April 2018.
Details of the court proceeding were reported by The National:
September 8, 2021The
NationalMain Stories
By ZEDAIAH KANAU
A 31-YEAR-OLD man was jailed 14 years with hard labour by the National
Court in Waigani for raping a six-year-old girl near a church in Port Moresby
in April 2018.
Justice Teresa Berrigan ordered Ben Duli, from Tari-Pori’s Paijaka village in
Hela to serve his term in Bomana after he pleaded guilty to raping the minor.
At the beginning of the plea proceedings, the state prosecutor sought to
include a paragraph pleading that at the time of the offence the girl was under
the age of 16 but the defence lawyer objected.
“It appears that it was agreed with another prosecutor as part of the plea
negotiations that the state would not invoke the maximum life imprisonment
under section 229A (2) but only proceed under s.229A (1),” Justice Berrigan
said.
She said that given the nature of the offence, it was not appropriate to
exclude the maximum penalty that necessarily applies as a result of the age of
the girl, but said the choice of charge was a matter for the state.
“I appreciate, however, that ultimately the choice of charge is a matter for
the state, and there may have been considerations about which I am not aware.
It should, however, be avoided,” she said.
In aggravation, Duli was living with the girl’s parents who had taken him in to
live in their premises and the offence was prevalent.
The court took into mitigation that Duli pleaded guilty, was a first time
offender and expressed remorse.
The defence counsel submitted for a sentence of between six and eight years and
it be partially suspended due to Duli’s guilty plea while the state submitted
for a term between 10 to 12 years.
Justice Berrigan said having regard to the maximum sentence in this case (25
years) and its general circumstances, she imposed a jail term of 14 years with
hard labour.
She deducted three years, four months and nine days for time spent in custody.
Duli will serve a term of nine years, seven months and 21 days in Bomana.
Duli admitted that between Jan 1 and April 13, 2018, he led the girl away from
the church yard on which she lived with her family into the shack he occupied
nearby.
Duli removed his trousers and proceeded to rape her.
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