It was a theft accusation that took a 10-year-old girl to a police station.
Her great-grandfather had accused her of stealing Sh800 from him on June 15, 2025. But as police questioned her about the money, the minor, for the first time, revealed how he had sexually assaulted her earlier that day and during a separate incident in May.
Last Thursday, a court in Nyeri sentenced the 92-year-old man, a retired teacher and church elder, to life imprisonment for defilement, after an attempt to frame his 10-year-old great-granddaughter for theft backfired, exposing a horrific cycle of sexual abuse.
In its judgment, the court found that the prosecution had proved the three elements of defilement: the complainant’s age, penetration and the identity of the perpetrator.
Court documents show that on June 15, 2025, the girl was on her way to a salon at a market near their home after failing to find a friend who was supposed to braid her hair.
She met the accused, who asked her to follow him to his home to collect something.
Instead, he led her to an area near a water tank, where she testified that he sexually assaulted her.
The girl told the court that the accused, who is her great-grandfather, gave her Sh250 after the incident and threatened to accuse her of stealing Sh10, 000 if she refused to accept the money.
She proceeded to the salon, where she had her hair braided, spent part of the money on snacks and retained Sh130.
It was at the salon that her grandmother, who is also her custodian, found her.
At the time, the accused had already gone to the minor’s home and reported that the girl had stolen Sh800 from him.
The minor’s grandmother told the court that she believed the allegation without question, given the accused’s standing as her father in the clan.
She went to the salon and confronted the girl, who admitted visiting the accused’s home but denied stealing any money.
Instead, she said the accused had given her Sh250 and showed her the Sh130 balance.
The court heard that when the grandmother demanded an explanation for the money, the girl remained silent.
It was during police questioning about the alleged theft that the girl disclosed, for the first time, that the accused had sexually abused her.
A signage of the Nyeri High Court in Nyeri town. A court in Nyeri sentenced a 92-year-old man to life imprisonment for defilement.
Photo credit: Mercy Mwende I Nation Media Group
She also reported an earlier incident in May 2025, during preparations for the burial of the accused’s daughter-in-law.
The girl told the court that she had been helping the accused arrange chairs for mourners when he asked her to follow him behind a water tank at the homestead.
She said he defiled her there while her grandmother, who worked at the home, was in the kitchen.
During the trial, the defence dismissed the prosecution’s case as a fabrication, arguing that the medical report was inconclusive.
The defence claimed that the girl had invented the defilement allegations at the police station to escape the theft accusation.
In his testimony, the accused said the girl had visited his shop, located at his home, to buy a sweet. When he told her there was none, she walked away.
“I was directed to my great-granddaughter’s home, where I reported the theft to her grandmother only to be accused of defilement,” he told the court.
The accused also argued that his advanced age made it impossible for him to commit the offence, claiming that he could not achieve an erection.
His wife of more than 70 years testified in his defence, confirming that she had seen the girl at their home that day and that her husband had complained about missing money.
However, in a dramatic twist, it was this very testimony from the accused’s wife that the court ultimately used to nail him in its judgment.
“Besides the minor’s grandmother’s evidence being a powerhouse, as she stated that she observed the victim walking with difficulty after the first sexual abuse incident, the other powerhouse was the evidence by defence witness two (the accused’s wife),” the court ruled.
“She explicitly stated that she saw the minor going behind the house to the water tank, a critical detail that completely shattered the defence’s timeline of when the child supposedly departed.”
The victim told the court that the accused, who is her great-grandfather, gave her Sh250 after the incident.
Photo credit: Pool
In its decision, the court relied on the Evidence Act, noting that a sexual offence conviction could legally rest entirely on the complainant’s sole evidence, provided the court records clear reasons for believing it.
“A 10-year-old who, from her first disclosure at the police station, through the account given to the clinical officer the following day, and finally in her sworn testimony before this court, remained materially consistent as to the location, nature of the act, the sums of the money involved and the threats made to her. That account withstood sustained cross-examination by a seasoned defence advocate,” ruled the court.
The defence argued that the absence of fresh injuries meant no assault had occurred on June 15, 2025.
The court rejected the argument, finding that the absence of a fresh hymenal tear could not rule out the assault, particularly given the physical trauma associated with the earlier incident in May.
Despite convicting the accused, the court also identified significant gaps in the investigation.
The magistrate noted that police had not visited the alleged crime scene, citing a hostile community that sought to protect the perpetrator.
The court also found that a broken chain of custody had compromised critical physical evidence, including the girl’s clothing and the money.
Also, the police did not record the clothes in the inventory.
In his mitigation, through a pre-sentence report, the accused told the court that he suffered from dementia and arthritis, but the court noted that there was no medical evidence to prove it.
“The court has also considered the community’s plea for mercy, based largely on his age, as ‘life has already imprisoned him’. If sentencing discretion was available, this would call for a difficult but genuine exercise of proportionality.
However, the Sexual Offences Act permits no calibration,” ruled the court.
The judge added: “The pre-sentence report records that the minor has eventually relocated from her community because of the trauma she faced. Her family has expressed a strong desire for justice.”
