A 27-year-old footballer has been sentenced to 12 years in prison by Accra District Court after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl three times in Mamprobi.
According to the Ghana News Agency, the court, presided over by Ms. Christina Cann, has convicted Richard Mensah of three counts of indecent assault.
Chief Inspector Simon Tekbor, head of the prosecution, told the court that the convict now lives in the same house as the victim and the applicant, who happened to be a trader and the victim’s sister.
Mensah took advantage of the victim on March 11, 2022 after his girlfriend traveled to Akraman in Accra for a funeral. He invited the victim to his room to help his children with their homework.
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According to prosecutors, after helping the convict’s children with their homework, the victim asked the children to stay outside while he was in the room with the victim.
In the room, Mensah undressed the victim and had vaginal and anal sex with her.
What led to the exposure of Mensah’s criminal activities was that the victim’s sister, who was the whistleblower, looked for her around 9 p.m. on the third day of the attack and found her in Mensah’s room. Then the victim admitted that the soccer player had sex with her.
“On March 12, 2022, it said at about 4:00 pm the victim was in the company of Mensah’s children and Mensah again invited her into his room and had sex with her.
“The prosecution said on March 14, 2022, at about 1:00 pm, the accused called the victim and asked her to assist his girlfriend to prepare food.
“The victim obliged and after the food was prepared, Mensah’s girlfriend went out.
“The prosecution said Mensah took advantage of his girlfriend’s absence and had sex with the victim,” the GNA reports.
The victim’s sister then lodged a complaint with the police, leading to Mensah’s arrest and trial.
