Plea bargain: Man jailed 4 years for impregnating teenager

An Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Tuesday sentenced a man, Onyeka Ubaka, to four years imprisonment, for indecent treatment of a teenager which resulted to pregnancy.
The court sentenced Ubaka to four years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to an amended two-count charge of indecent treatment of a child and sexual assault.
Ubaka, had during arraignment on Jan. 12, pleaded not guilty but changed his plea, in a plea bargain agreement.
He pleaded guilty to indecent treatment of a child and sexual assault by caressing the buttocks of the survivor with his hands.
Before delivering the judgment, Justice Rahman Oshodi, asked Ubaka if he understood the content of the plea bargain agreement and the obligation of the court to give maximum sentence.
Ubaka admitted that he made the plea bargain voluntarily and was satisfied with the advice of his counsel.
The judge, thereafter, convicted the defendant as charged.
In his judgment, Oshodi said that the facts of the case was troubling due to how the convict engaged in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl.
He said, “You took her to a bar, purchased yogurt for her, she lost consciousness and later found herself in a hotel room where you had sex with her without her consent.
“The sexual intercourse resulted to pregnancy and child birth.
“I have considered the plea bargain agreement and document attached to it which stipulates that your father, Mr Emeka Ubaka, shall be responsible for 30 per cent of the survivor’s educational expenses.
“I have also considered that you will be responsible for the child’s upkeep to the age of eight years.
“I have also seen the document marked Exhibit C, where your father paid three hundred thousand naira as hospital expenses to the survivor’s mother.”
Justice Oshodi, therefore, sentenced the convict to four years imprisonment and ordered that his name be registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences Register.
Earlier, the State Counsel, Ms Bukola Okeowo, in her review of fact, told the court that the survivor had earlier given evidence as prosecution witness one (PW1).
She said that the PW1 narrated that the convict was her boyfriend, adding that he had sex with her multiple times which resulted to pregnancy.
The defence, in its allocutus, prayed the court to reduce the convict’s jail term to enable him take proper care of the survivor and the baby.