42-year-old sentenced to eight years for sexually assaulting minor |15 September 2021

The Supreme Court of Seychelles on Monday sentenced a 42-year-old man identified as R.J to eight years imprisonment for sexual assault on a minor, contrary to Sections 130 (1), 130 (2) and Section 130 (3) of the Penal Code.

The man was found guilty and convicted after sexually assaulting a girl aged 14 in February of 2018, despite denying that he committed the offence.

In delivering the sentence, Justice Mohan Burhan considered the mitigating factors, including the fact that R.J is a first-time offender, but highlighted the importance of considering other factors including “the trauma a young victim suffers and continues to suffer throughout his or her life”.

He went on to note that the seriousness of the offence is aggravated by the fact that RJ was aged 38 at the time of the offence and that he had a close relationship to one of the victim’s close relative. Furthermore, evidence indicates that there was penetration during the sexual acts committed on the victim on more than one occasion, Justice Burhan noted.

The time R.J spent in remand is to count towards his sentence.

Laura Pillay