December 7, 2021
By Hafsatu Z Bangura
Jacob Musa made his first appearance before Justice Momoh Jah Stevens of the Sexual Modern Offences Court at the High Court of Sierra Leone in Freetown on one count charge of Sexual Penetration contrary to section 19 of the sexual offences Act 2012, Act no12 of 2012 as repealed and replaced by section 4 (a) (ii) of the sexual offences Amendment Act 2019 Act No 8 of 2019.
Jacob Musa on a date between the 1st September 2020 and the 30th September 2020 at Freetown in the western area of the republic of Sierra Leone engaged in an act of sexual penetration of a child.
First Prosecution Witness (PW1) the victim said the accused person is her boyfriend and the said accused sexually penetrated her on September 2020.
The victim continued that during the evening hours the accused person called her through her cellphone but when she answered the call he asked if it was Salima and the victim responded saying that it was a mistake.
The next day the accused person Jacob Musa called again and asked the same question, the victim said the responded again that she was Salima’s friend and that she and the said Salima are friends and they are all in the same class, she said since then the accused person had been calling her on her cellphone.
Furthermore stated that in July the accused proposed love to her and she responded to the accused person saying the accused person should give her time to think about it, saying at the time the accused person and her never met each other in person.
She said the accused person then asked to meet in person with the victim at a pharmacy of which she obliged, she said on several occasions met with the accused person at the pharmacy and that sometimes the accused person would offer the sum of le10, 000 or le 5,000 to the victim and that the accused person bought her a black star phone in November 2020.
Second Prosecution Witness (PW2) Oyah Aminata Bailor a cousin to the victim testified in court that the victim is her cousin and she’s aged 17 years old, she said she observed the accused chatting on her phone and smiling and was curious to ask her but the victim denied when asked the question who she was chatting with and replied that it was a friend but the cousin said she threatened the victim to report her to the mother if she doesn’t say the truth of which the victim then confessed that it was her boyfriend that she was chatting with.
She continued that she saw the messages between the victim and the accused and decided to report the accused to the uncle and to warn to the accused to stay off from his cousin (the victim).
She continued that she later on found out about the phone the accused bought for her and saw medicines and expensive perfumes in the victims bag of which she confronted the victim and she answered saying it was the accused person that gave it to her.
The matter has been adjourned; the defense was represented by C.Taylor Young whilst the state was represented by Pious Sesay Jnr.