High Court Jails Farmer 8 Years for Sexual Penetration of a Minor

Justice Abdul Sheriff of the High Court Holden in Kenema has handed down an eight-year prison sentence to a farmer convicted of sexually penetrating a seven-year-old child, while discharging a second accused person in a separate larceny case due to lack of prosecution.

The rulings were delivered on April 7, 2026.

Bobor Alfred, a farmer from Jumu Kafabu village, was arraigned before Justice Sheriff on the offense of sexual penetration of a child, contrary to Section 19 of the Sexual Offences Act No. 12 of 2012, as repealed and replaced by Section 4(a)(iii) of the Sexual Offences Amendment Act No. 8 of 2019.

The charges were read to the defendant by the court’s registrar, Thomas S. Sam. According to the court information, Alfred on September 30, 2025, at Jumu Kafabu village in the Nongowa Chiefdom, Kenema Judicial District, engaged in an act of sexual penetration with a seven-year-old child.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge and subsequently begged the court for mercy. He was represented by Defence Counsel Patrick Kamara of the Legal Aid Board.

Delivering his judgment, Justice Abdul Sheriff acknowledged the guilty verdict and considered the plea in mitigation from the defence counsel, who had urged the court to temper justice with mercy.

However, after giving further consideration to the tender age of the victim, the judge sentenced the convict, Bobor Alfred, to eight years’ imprisonment at the Sierra Leone Correctional Centre (SLCC) in Kenema.