A 24-year-old teacher has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment in hard labour by a Tarkwa Circuit Court for defiling and impregnating a 15-year-old student in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality.
The convict, Kingsley Acquah, pleaded not guilty to the charge, but the court, presided over by Hathia Ama Manu found him guilty at the end of the protracted trial.
Prosecuting, Superintendant Juliana Essel-Dadzie told the court that the complainant was a seamstress and mother of the victim.
She said Acquah used to teach at a private school, located in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, which the 15-year old girl attendÂed. She also said that the convict lived in the same area with the victim and her parents.
According to the prosecutor, the victim was a final year Junior High School (JHS) student, who together with her colleagues lodged at the school campus, to enable them to effectively prepare for the Basic Education Certificate ExaminaÂtion (BECE).
She said the convict took advantage of the situation, lured the 15-year old girl into his room and had sexual intercourse with her.
She told the court that when the convict had sex with the victim she bled, and the convict asked the victim to leave his room.
Supt Essel-Dadzie said after the victim had completed school and was home, she fell sick, and did not realized she was pregnant.
She indicated that it was when the girl had got an admission to a Senior High School (SHS), and was on campus, that a senior house mistress detected that the victim was pregnant, and the authorities asked her to go home.
Supt. Essel-Dadzie said the girl later narrated her ordeal to the mother who also reported the matter to the police.
The prosecution said the police issued a medical report form to the complainant to take the victim to the hospital where it was confirmed medically that she was pregnant.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi