A 31-year-old teacher, Idowu Daniel, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment on Monday by Ikeja Special Offences Court for sexually assaulting his 16-year-old student within school premises. The convict was charged with defilement.

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo held that the prosecution failed to establish the charge of defilement against the convict. This was because the victim failed to show up in court to testify.

She said the voluntary confessional statement made by the defendant showed that he sexually assaulted the minor.

“The defendant admitted to having fondled the breast of the victim twice and tried to have sex with her but he could not penetrate as she was a virgin.

“The defendant is hereby convicted on the charge of sexual assault of a child,” she ruled.

The convict however pleaded for mercy when asked if he had anything to say.

“My lord, I am very sorry for what happened. I promise it will not happen again,” the convict said.

The judge also lashed out at the convict for his behavior adding that he would have gotten life imprisonment had the minor testified in court.

“You are a teacher and you were touching the breast of your student. You would have gone for life imprisonment if the victim had come to court to testify.”

Justice Taiwo however, increased his jail term to seven years from five years without an option of a fine after saying that he had been in custody for three years.

Daniel was 28 years old when he committed the offence on June 27, 2019.

He unlawfully had sensual knowledge of his student in the biology laboratory at Anastasia Comprehensive College, Abule-Egba, Ikeja.

He was remanded sometime in July 2019, by Chief Magistrate Olufunke Sule-Amzat, in Kirikiri Prisons.

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