By Patrick N. Mensah, Maryland County
A 38-year-old man has been incarcerated in Harper City, Maryland County Electoral district#1 for allegedly sodomizing a 12-year-old minor.
Suspect Edward D. Knight, aka Adebaryo, is a shopkeeper and resident of Harper City’s Larma Cox community.
On Friday, September 24, 2021, the parents of the victim alerted the Women and Children Protection Section of the Liberia National Police in Harper that their son had been sexually abused by Suspect Knight.
He was immediately rushed to a nearby health center in the county where health authorities conducted an examination and confirmed penetration.
Narrating the entire ordeal to reporters in Harper, the minor said, he had gone to buy pepper for his grandmother at a local shop operated by Suspect Knight when the suspect asked for his assistance to get him some water to drink.
But the victim quickly insisted that his grandmother was waiting for the pepper that he had gone to buy.
He said Knight then agreed but insisted that the boy should return after handing the pepper to his grandmother.
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The victim continued that after delivering the paper to his grandmother, he returned quickly to assist Suspect Knight but the defendant asked him to come back again, this time at night, citing that someone had already assisted him with some water to drink.
“When I came back, he (Adebaryo) asked me to come behind the counter in the shop and said I should take off my clothes; then he took off his clothes too”, the minor disclosed.
“He told me not to talk and promised to give me money and bread. That is how he put his ‘toto’ (penis) in my butt and I started crying. He later took it from there and said he didn’t enjoy it good; that I should come back next time so he can enjoy himself good, good.”
The 12-year-old boy explained further that Suspect Knight warned him not to tell anybody or else, he will die, so he kept silent.
However, after few days, he felt pains in his stomach, so he immediately informed his grandmother about the act.
The Grandmother, Felecia Doe, was totally broken upon noticing the situation and taking the child for a medical examination when doctors diagnosed the victim had been sexually abused.
Grandma Doe is worried about her grandchild’s health and future and called on well-meaning individuals to help her get justice to deter such practice from the Liberian society.
Defendant Knight was initially arraigned before the Harper Magisterial Court on Monday, September 27, 2021, for a preliminary hearing before being forwarded to the circuit court, on grounds that the case is beyond the lower court’s jurisdiction.
Though the suspect denied the allegation when he was arrested by the Liberia National Police Detachment in Harper, he spent a night behind bar before the Police forwarded him to the Magisterial Court.
The case will be transferred to the Fourth Judiciary Circuit Court during the November Term of Court for trial.
Sodomy is a breach of Section 14.70 of the Revised Rape law of Liberia which states that a person who has sexual intercourse with another (Male or Female) has committed rape if; (a) He intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus, mouth, or any other opening of another person (Male or female) with his penis without the victim’s consent.
Penalties include life imprisonment or 10 years sentence, depending on the gravity of the crime.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/cape-mount-bomi-compromise-rape-case-for-tradition/ Editing by Jonathan Browne
