Two missionaries acquitted of defilement charges

April 30, 2011 (Mirror - Page 27)

TWO missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who were convicted for defiling a 14-year-old girl have been acquitted and discharged by the High Court in Accra.
Omale Ojonugwu Uwa, alias Elder Omale, 25, and Thatayaone Keeng, alias Elder Keeng, 20, were each found guilty on four counts of defilement and were sentenced to 10 years and seven years, respectively.
Omale, a Nigerian, was sentenced to seven years on the charge of conspiracy and 10 years on the charge of defilement, while Keeng, a Motswana, was sentenced to seven years on the charges of conspiracy and defilement.
The two were alleged to have committed the offence at Odorkor, a suburb of Accra, between February and April 2010 and were found guilty and convicted on August 6, 2010.
Dissatisfied with the circuit court’s decision, a legal practitioner, Mr Addo Atuah, filed an appeal on behalf of the two at the High Court in September 2010.
Counsel had argued that the trial court erred in not considering the weight of evidence which inured to the benefit of his clients.
He also argued that it was wrong for the prosecution to have put Omale and Keeng on one charge sheet.
The High Court, presided over by Mr Justice C.A. Wilson, upheld the appeal, quashed the convictions and accordingly acquitted and discharged the missionaries.
The court deferred its reasons to a later date.
The facts of the case were that the missionaries lived in the same house with the complainant and the victim, who was a house help of the complainant.
According to the prosecution, Omale had called the victim to their room in February 2010 and asked if she had kissed or had sex before, to which she said no.
Omale and Keeng were accused of having sex with her in turns and warned her not to tell anyone.
The prosecution claimed the missionaries had bouts of sex with the victim in the months of March and April 2010.
According to it, the complainant later confronted the victim on how she came across a bottle of perfume, to which she explained that Omale had given it to her to remedy her bad body odour.
The circuit court, accordingly, convicted the two after a full trial, but the High Court held otherwise after counsel for the missionaries had pointed out loopholes in the prosecution’s case.