Brother in Court for sex with sister

By Deidre Tautua-Fanene 10 November 2017, 12:00AM

A 22-year-old has appeared in Court for one count of incest and one count of sexual act against a girl under 12 years of age.

The accused is the victim’s biological brother and they were brought up together. He pleaded guilty to both charges against him.

The matter was before Supreme Court Justice Leiataualesa Daryl Clarke. Lucy Sio of the Attorney General’s Office was the prosecutor while the defendant did not have a lawyer.

A suppression order was issued to protect the identities of both the victim and the defendant, given their family relationship.

The order also extended to the victim’s village as well as her school. According to the police summary of facts, the first incident occurred between 1st January and 30th November last year when the victim was only 10 years old.

On the day in question, the defendant was at home with his sister.

 The defendant had told the victim to meet him in the bushes at the back of their house where the defendant then sexually harassed her.

The defendant later attempted more than once to have sexual intercourse with her but failed because she ran back to into the house when a family member came looking for the victim.

The second incident which is the charge of incest occurred on 25th September, 2017, while the victim and the defendant, together with other children were watching television. The defendant told one of his cousins that he was going to do some chores and he went and waited for the victim.

Sometimes later, the victim went to get some ice water from the fridge when the defendant called her to come to the back which the victim agreed.

The victim went to the bush at the back of their house and he sexually harassed her again.

According to reports, one of the defendant’s uncles was heading towards where the defendant and the victim were.

The defendant saw him and ran away while his uncle chased him.

The uncle then told the mother of the victim about what had happened and they reported the matter to the police.

The matter has been adjourned for sentence on 16th November.

By Deidre Tautua-Fanene 10 November 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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