[dropcap]A[/dropcap] 45-year-old commercial driver, Lawrence Adedapo, has been sentenced to seven years in prison by an Ado Ekiti High Court for raping an 80-year-old woman, Madam Grace Asaolu.
Adedapo had sexually assaulted the octogenarian on November 7, 2013, at Oke Erimope Street, Ogbese, Ise-Ekiti in Ise/Orun Local Government Area of Ekiti State and was subsequently charged to court.
He had pleaded not guilty to the charge when he was brought to court and had given evidence in his own defence and did not call any witness.
He had claimed in his testimony during the trial that the old woman as his “mother as well as his concubine” whom he has been dating as far back as his bachelor years.
He claimed that the victim, Mrs Asaolu had framed him up, and alleged that the old woman had earlier approached him for some money to travel to her village, but on that date, she walked into his room and demanded for the money.
According to Adedapo, Asaolu had started romancing him, which eventually led to a sexual intercourse after he had given her N1,000.
The prosecution led by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, gave evidence that the convict claimed in his confession to have been dating the woman before the incident and that she consented to the sexual intercourse.
But Ajayi tendered the bloodstained clothes of the victim, which was recovered from the scene of the incident.
In his judgement, Justice Dele Omotoso convicted Adedapo based on the evidence before the court, which he said showed that the driver forcefully had a carnal knowledge of the old woman.
Justice Omotoso pronounced Adedapo guilty as charged, after he had resolved all issues for determination against him.
Consequently, he sentenced him to a jail term of seven years for unlawfully carnal knowledge of the old woman.
