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October 28, 2023
CIRCUIT COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGMENT
Defilement is defined as the natural or unnatural carnal knowledge of any child under sixteen
years of age. See section 101(1) the Criminal Offences Act, 1960(Act 29).2
Such a law has been enacted to keep in check people who are not doli incapax and who misled
by the concupiscent desire in them cannot be abstentious sexually in relation to children who
are less than sixteen (16) years old.
The man Sampson Armah herein who is also known as Fiifi was accused in that respect and
he was charged as follows:
STATEMENT OF OFFENCE
DEFILEMENT OF A CHILD UNDER SIXTEEN (16) YEARS OF AGE; CONTRARY TO
SECTION 101(2) OF THE CRIMINAL OFFENCES ACT, 1960(ACT 29)
PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE
SAMPSON ARMAH a.k.a. FIIFI; GALAMSEYER: For that you on the 28th day of
January 2021 at about 03:00pm at a galamsey site near Denkyira Gyaman in the Central
Circuit and within the jurisdiction of this Court, did unlawfully carnally know Sarah
Manu a.k.a. Yaa Akyaa, aged ten (10) years.
Section 101(2) of Act 29 states:
Whoever naturally or unnaturally carnally knows any child under sixteen years of age, whether
with or without his or her consent commits an offence and shall be liable on summary
conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years and not more than twentyfive years.
In Commissioner of Police v. Isaac Antwi [1961] GLR 408 SC, Korsah CJ stated that:
The fundamental principles underlying the rule of law that the burden of proof remains
throughout on the prosecution and that the evidential burden rests on the accused where at3
the end of the case of the prosecution an explanation is required of him, are illustrated by a
series of cases. Burden of proof in this context is used in two senses. It may mean the burden
of establishing a case or it may mean the burden of introducing evidence. In the first sense it
always rests on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt; but
the burden of proof of introducing evidence rests on the prosecution in the first instance but
may subsequently shift to the defence, especially where the subject-matter is peculiarly within
the accused's knowledge and the circumstances are such as to call for some explanation.
Section 10(1) of the Evidence Act, 1975(NRCD 323) defines “Burden of Persuasion” and it
states:
For the purposes of this Decree, the burden of persuasion means the obligation of a party to
establish a requisite degree of belief concerning a fact in the mi
AI Generated Summary
This Circuit Court judgment concerns a charge of defilement under section 101(2) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) against Sampson Armah (Fiifi), a small-scale miner in Denkyira Gyaman. The prosecution alleged that on 28 January 2021, Armah directed two boys away from a galamsey site and remained with ten-year-old Sarah Manu (Yaa Akyaa), whom he allegedly held, covered her mouth, placed on the ground, and sexually assaulted, then offered GH₵5 and warned her. The complainant reported to Ayanfuri Police; a medical report from Pentecost Hospital Ayanfuri noted vulval lesions and hymenal loss, but no fresh blood or semen, and the examination occurred about three days after the incident. Six witnesses testified, but none saw the act; the investigator referenced child health records showing 17 June 2010 as the victim’s birthdate, but the record bore the name “Sarah Achia,” raising identification issues. There were contradictions about distance between locations and no scene photographs. Applying Ghana’s Evidence Act burdens and the Woolmington “golden thread,” the court found reasonable doubt and acquitted Armah.