By Arret Jatta
In a rare and rather dramatic case yesterday, the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court sentenced one Ansumana Gassama, a football coach, to seven years imprisonment for an unnatural sex offence involving a 10-year-old male player under his charge.
Appearing before Principal Magistrate I Sallah-M’Bai, Gassama pleaded guilty to the charge.
The court heard that Gassama committed the offence on or about the 23rd July in Bakau, and the victim, whose identity cannot be revealed, is a 10-year-old boy coached by the accused.
According to the judgment, Gassama invited the child to his residence after a football coaching session, and later undressed him and engaged in unlawful sexual conduct with him.
The court relied on medical certificates, Gassama’s voluntary and cautionary statements, photographs and the child’s birth certificate before convicting him on his guilty plea.
In assessing the sentence, Magistrate Sallah-M’Bai described the offence as particularly serious, stressing the victim’s young age, physical injuries and vulnerability.
The court noted that medical evidence showed the child suffered bruising and bleeding following the offence.
The magistrate also identified Gassama’s position as the child’s football coach as a major aggravating factor. The court said the position of trust gave Gassama access to the child and that the trust was abused.
However, the court considered Gassama’s youth, first-offender status, guilty plea and cooperation as mitigating factors.
Gassama himself pleaded for mercy and asked the court for a second chance, saying the incident was a mistake he would not repeat.
However, the court held that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors and imposed a seven- year imprisonment, above the statutory minimum of five years.
The court also ordered Gassama to pay the victim D500,000 in compensation and if he fails to do that, an additional one-year prison term will be added to his term with the sentences to run consecutively.