The High Court in Lautoka has handed a 15-year prison sentence to A 53-year-old man for raping a 13-year-old girl.
He was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault.
The court heard that the victim is a special needs child diagnosed as having intellectual impairment and was known to the accused as they resided in the same village and are distantly related.
In 2019, the accused met the victim outside her house while he was on his way to the store.
Since the accused was known to the victim, the victim called out to the accused to greet him.
The accused then took the victim to the community hall which was only a few meters and committed the act.
The court further heard the victim was frightened of the accused, so she did not tell anyone about what the accused had done to her and as a result, she got pregnant.
The aggravating factors were that the perpetrator breached the trust of the victim and the society, the age difference of the two and the fact that the accused exposed the victim to sexual abuse and preyed on her vulnerability.
The accused has been given 30 days to appeal the sentence.
