The Ikeja Special Offences Court has sentenced a teacher, Idowu Daniel, to seven years imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old student in a school.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, however, held that the prosecution failed to establish the charge of defilement.
The judge said the confessional statement by the defendant, made voluntarily, showed that he sexually assaulted the minor.
“The defendant admitted to have fondled the breast of the victim twice and tried to have sex with her but could not penetrate as she was a virgin.
“The defendant is hereby convicted on the charge of sexual assault of a child”, she ruled on Monday.
NAN reports that the 31-year-old convict pleaded for mercy when asked to speak.
“My lord, I am very sorry for what happened. I promise it will not happen again,” he told the court.
Justice Taiwo strongly chided Daniel for touching the teenager in a suggestive way.
“You are a teacher and you were touching the breast of your student. You would have gone for life if the victim had come to court to testify”, she said.
The judge earlier sentenced the convict to five years imprisonment, but increased to seven years after saying he had been in custody for three years.