A man has been sentenced to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of defiling an 8-year-old girl in Masinga Sub-County, Machakos County.
John Mumo Mulwa was convicted in SOA No. E061 of 2025, Republic versus John Mumo Mulwa, at the Principal Magistrates Court at Kithimani. The judgment and sentence were delivered on 7th October 2026 by Hon. Paul Wechuli.
The court found that on 19th November 2025, at around 12:30pm at Nunguni village, Kivaa Sub-location in Masinga, the accused intentionally defiled a child aged 8 years, identified in court papers as I.M.M.
The court heard that the victim, who stays in Nairobi, had visited her rural home for the holidays together with her mother. The accused, who is an uncle to the victim's mother and was known to the child as "Babu Mumo", lived in the same large compound.
According to evidence presented by the prosecution, the mother had been cooking lunch outside in the company of the accused and her two daughters. The accused called the two children to his house. The younger child later came out, leaving the 8-year-old inside with the accused.
The mother later noticed whitish discharge on the child's thighs and clothing. Upon questioning, the child revealed that the accused had defiled her.
The prosecution called six witnesses, including the mother (PW1), the area assistant chief (PW2), the victim (PW3) and a clinician from Kivaa Health Center (PW4). The court noted that the victim's evidence was credible and was not impeached. The clinician corroborated the evidence, noting redness and inflammation on the labia and presence of mucous substances, concluding there was attempted defilement.
The mother told the court that at the time of the offence, the accused was the only male person in the homestead. The assistant chief told the court he found the accused tied with ropes at the scene after being informed by the family, with a large crowd present.
In his defence, the accused, testifying as DW1, denied the charges and claimed he had just come from the farm and that the mother had framed him over tomatoes. The court dismissed the defence, saying it did not explain the detailed testimony of the child nor the medical evidence.
On a legal issue, the court observed that the accused had been charged under Section 8(1) as read with Section 8(4) of the Sexual Offences Act, while the victim was 8 years old and the proper section ought to be Section 8(2). The court relied on superior court decisions including Kibet v Republic KEHC 11903 (KLR) and held that the defect was not fatal and did not occasion a failure of justice. The court convicted him of defilement under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and the alternative charge of committing an indecent act with a child was marked as spent.
In sentencing, the court said any form of sexual assault against a child is reprehensible and unconscionable.
"The acts of the accused are no less reprehensible. He terrorized the minor with his acts of defilement. He needs to know that children need to be protected and not to be abused," Hon. Wechuli stated in the sentencing notes.
The court noted that sentencing is an exercise of discretion by the trial court, citing the Court of Appeal in Shadrack Kipkoech Kogo vs R, Eldoret Criminal Appeal No. 253 of 2003, but noted that the Sexual Offences Act prescribes a mandatory sentence for the offence. Under Section 8(2) of the Act, a person who commits defilement with a child aged eleven years or less shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to life imprisonment.
"In terms of section 8(2) of the Sexual Offences Act, the accused is sentenced to serve life imprisonment," the court ruled.
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