Man sodomises 4 year-old boy

court

A homosexual paedophile was last week jailed by a Harare magistrate. Moses Mlambo (29) pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a four-year-old boy.

Magistrate Daniel Shonhiwa convicted Mlambo on his own plea. It was proved that Mlambo used a toy car to lure the minor to his (Mlambo) sister’s house in Epworth. The man from Chiredzi had come to stay with his sister and brother-in-law when he committed the offence. It was sometime in May when he called the boy to the house. He removed his trousers and indecently assaulted the boy. The State, led by prosecutor Mrs Joyce Fusire, alleged after committing the offence, Mlambo then gave the toy car to the boy.

The boy was asked by a playmate where he had got the toy. That was when he revealed it all. It is said the boy told his playmate that he had been given the toy by Mlambo after “doing it on him”. The issue then spread to the elders who made a report leading to Mlambo’s arrest.

“Why did you sexually abuse this boy?” asked the magistrate. “It just happened,” said Mlambo. The prosecutor spoke strongly against Mlambo’s conduct, saying that the fact that Mlambo had committed the offence against a minor was alone aggravatory. “He exposed this child to this unnatural act,” said Mrs Fusire. “and the child might then do it to other kids, thinking that it is proper.

“He also exposed the child to STIs and the HIV pandemic that has become a menace. “The accused should be punished because of his actions. “He pleaded guilty, which should act in his favour, but the offence is the same as rape. “So only a prison term would suffice,” said Mrs Fusire. In assessing Mlambo’s sentence, magistrate Shonhiwa said the accused as old as he is,  could be the boy’s father.

“The accused used a home-made toy as bait to lure the boy. “In his need to conceal the offence, that is when he gave the toy to the boy. To show that the minor did not know anything, he bragged to another four-year-old, that that was how the offence surfaced.

“To the young boy, there was nothing amiss that is why he openly talked of it. “This is the same reason why these offences suffer a natural death. “The accused showed a bit of planning by luring the boy with a home-made toy,” said the magistrate. He added that it was the duty of the courts to protect victims of sexual abuse. He said if Mlambo wanted to quench his sexual appetite, he should have found someone who was willing.

Mlambo was sentenced to 16 years in jail. But four years were suspended on condition he does not commit a similar offence in the next five years. For the remaining 12 years, Mlambo will be in prison.