Father who defiled two step-daughters gets 50 years in jail

The High Court in Nyeri upheld a 50-year jail term handed to a convict for defiling his two step-daughters.

On March 23, Justice John Mativo found the suspect guilty of incest, upholding a judgment delivered earlier by Nyeri Resident Magistrate John Aringo.

The man, 57, who is infected with HIV, had been charged with defiling his step-daughters aged 14 and nine in January and July 2012 at Waka in Nyeri County.

He also faced an alternative charge of committing an indecent act with children.

He was found guilty and sentenced to serve 30 years imprisonment on count one and 20 years imprisonment on the alternative charge. Both sentences were to run concurrently.

By the time the accused was committing the heinous act, the court noted, their mother was bedridden, infected and suffering from HIV.

On July 16, 2012 the mother died and the girls went to live with their maternal grandmother.

On July 31, 2012, the court was told the man sent a text message to the two girls’ grandmother, instructing her to buy ARV drugs for her grandchildren because he had defiled them. A medical report showed the two girls had been defiled by their HIV-positive step-father. However, their HIV test results turned negative.