Man in child pornography case found guilty

Mr Tom Musabili appears at a Nakuru court on May 19, 2017 where he was charged with 20 counts of showing underage children pornographic materials and forcing them to engage in sexual acts. He was remanded at Central Police Station till Wednesday for police to complete investigations. [Photo/Suleiman Mbatiah/Standard]

A boda boda operator has been found guilty of child pornography.

Nakuru Resident Magistrate Eunice Kelly said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Tom Kidemi had been accused of forcing children to engage in sexual acts, promoting child prostitution, child pornography and sex among children.

He was said to have committed the offences at his home in Railways estate, Nakuru County, on diverse dates in March last year.

Kidemi yesterday vowed "never to play around with minors".

“I now know even if the children are mine, they belong to the Government,” he said.

The children who testified told the court that they visited the accused’s home on various occasions where they were lured into watch phonographic movies and engage in sex with a mentally disturbed woman at the man’s house.

The school children aged between 12 and 14 from two different schools in Nakuru were said to have been offered sugarcane by the accused.

“I find the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, the accused committed the offence of child pornography and convict him accordingly,” read the court's judgement.

One of the minors said the accused would offer a girl at his house Sh50 to lure her into sex with other minors.

On one occasion, the minor said there were seven children in the house and those who were not trusted and suspected might reveal what was happening were chased away.

A teacher said the parent of one of the boys visited the school early one morning to inquire where her son was.

“The parent came to school and reported that her child had not returned home from school. We checked our class register and found the boy was in school the previous day,” he said.

The teacher said the school management asked the other pupils about the boy's whereabouts and they said he had been seen near the accused’s house and was in his home clothes.

The teachers advised the parent to report the matter to the police. The woman went to file a missing person’s report at the Central Police Station.

Police officers told her they had three minors locked up in the cells. To her shock, one of the children turned out to be her son.

She recorded a statement

The teacher testified that after questioning other pupils, one child named the children who frequented the suspect’s house. The minors were summoned individually for questioning.

The teacher added that one of the children said Kidemi had forced him to have sex with a mentally challenged woman.

The man had denied committing the offences.

He said his mother owned a circumcision clinic and boys who visited the clinic would stay with him.

The court noted that the man took advantage of the minors.

“The above points to the mind of a pervert who will stop at nothing to satisfy his sexual needs, including involving children,” said the magistrate.

The court, however, did not deliver its sentence as the prosecution sought time to provide a report on whether the man had previous crime records.

In mitigation, the man said he was a father of five and his wife had no job. Being the breadwinner, he pleaded for leniency.

He will be sentenced on December 18, 2018.