Court in Kampala has sentence a 21-year-old woman to 15 years in prison for defiling her boss’s 11 year old son.
Rose Betty Luwedde who was serving as a maid pleaded guilty to the charge before High Court Judge Flavia Anglin Senoga, the criminal division deputy head on Friday (November 13, 2020).
Consequently, the judge sentenced her to 15-years noting that the offence is rampant therefore calling for a deterrent punishment.
“Although the convict is a first offender and did not waste the court’s time and the victim did not contract the disease, offences of this nature are rampant and children need to be protected by sending a strong message to the public that it will not be tolerated,” Justice Senoga ruled.
The judge however advised Luwedde to appeal against the sentence if she is dissatisfied with her decision.
Prosecution led by State Attorney Jacquelyn Akao stated that between December 2016 and December 2017, at St. Agnes zone in Kampala district, Luwedde performed a sexual act with a boy aged 11-years whereas she was HIV positive.
The medical report, however, indicated that the boy was not infected with the disease.
In her defence, Luwedde explained that it was the victim who first approached her in December 2016 and tried to lick her finger.
“One day he followed me into my bedroom and romanced me,” Luwedde recalled.
In her charge and caution statement, Luwedde revealed that she used to share the same bed with the victim.
Luwedde also admitted having written a love letter to the victim in December 2017 to wish him a merry Christmas and enclosed therein sh5, 000.
Luwedde has been on remand since 2018 when she was charged with the offence of aggravated defilement at Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court.
Aggravated defilement offends section 129(3) and (4)(a)(b) of the Penal Code Act.
Defilement is unlawful sexual intercourse with a person who is below the age of 18 and the guilty party on conviction is liable to life imprisonment.
The offence of defilement, created in 1990, prohibits having or attempting sexual intercourse with a girl or boy under 18- years of age.
Defilement is considered aggravated if the girl or boy is under 14 years old, the offender has HIV/AIDS, the offender is the victim’s parent or guardian, the girl has a disability, or the offender is a serial offender, and it carries a maximum penalty of death.
Under the Penal Code Act, there is no consent requirement for defilement because children cannot consent to sexual intercourse.
Court documents indicate that the victim’s aunt was suspicious about the two because they seemed to be in an intimate relationship.
This prompted her to interrogate the victim’s sibling and revealed to her that the two used to lock themselves in her bedroom while she was away.
Upon, interrogation by Police, Luwedde revealed that she had sexual intercourse with the victim six times.
The case was handled under the special session initiated by the Judiciary to clear over 700 Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases within a period of 45-days.
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