A man who told a magistrate that a 15-year-old school girl he defiled was his wife will serve a 20-year jail term.
Caleb Barasa, 21, was found guilty of defilement by Nairobi magistrate Dickson Onyango.
The man defiled the girl at Kawangware estate in Nairobi in November 2009 when the two lived together.
The magistrate said the prosecution had provided sufficient evidence against the accused.
In his defence, Barasa told the court that he had taken the girl as his wife and he still loved her.
He told the court that he thought the girl was above 18 years.
Claims of deceit
But the magistrate argued that there was no suggestion that the man had been deceived by the girl into believing she was an adult.
“If he was acting reasonably he ought to have made enquiries to find out the exact age of the complainant,” the magistrate said.
The girl was a pupil at a school in Western Province before the man led her to his house.
The accused pleaded for a non-custodial sentence but the magistrate said his hands were tied by the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act.
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