JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
Nyamai Musyoka (appellant) was charged before the Kitui Principal Magistrate’s Court with the offence of defilement contrary to Section 8(1)(3) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006 with an alternative charge of indecent act with a child contrary to Section 11(1) of the same Act.
He is said to have committed the said acts against a child (who we shall refer to as A.P. for purposes of protecting her identity pursuant to the Children’s Act), who was aged thirteen (13) years. He denied both the main and the alternative charges. After a trial in which a total of five witnesses testified for the prosecution, with the appellant tendering sworn evidence, the appellant was found guilty, convicted and sentenced to serve a term of twenty (20) years imprisonment.
Apparently, although the learned magistrate convicted the appellant on both the main and the alternative charges, which in itself was erroneous, she pronounced only one sentence. It is not clear whether the same wa…