KAKATA, Margibi County – Police in Margibi County on Tuesday, September 8 charged and sent to court a 47-year-old disabled man for allegedly raping a four-year-old girl. The incident is said to have occurred at the suspect’s Gbandi community residence in Kakata.
Suspect Fred Johnson was on Tuesday, September 1 arrested and detained by police following a complaint filed against him by the victim’s mother (name withheld), who is said to be a neighbor to Johnson.
The victim’s mother told police investigation that she was alerted by her friend who informed her that she was hearing her daughter cry from the front porch of their house.
“My friend called me and told me to ask my daughter why she was the reason she was crying. And when I asked my daughter she said Pa Jackson asked her to go and buy him cigarettes, so while going she forgot about what she was told to buy, so, she decided going back to him,” the mother explained
She told police investigation that the child informed her that upon her return with the money, the suspect allegedly placed his hand in her clothes and inserted his finger (thumb) into her private part.
The suspect, however, denied the allegations levied against him in a a voluntary statement provided to the police during primary investigations.
Johnson told police investigation that on September 1, during a heavy down pour of rain, the victim reportedly went to him and stepped on his leg with anger to remove her slippers from beneath his wheelchair.
His words: “During the process of removing her slippers, she started shouting “leave my foot”, “leave my foot”. When Mercy heard her shouting, she immediately went and called the girl’s mother and told her that I put my hands in her girl’s underclothes.”
According to police charge sheet, based on the medical reports and other facts obtained during the case, the police, through its Women and Children Protection Unit, charged suspect Johnson with the crime of rape in accordance with Chapter 14.70 of the New Panel Code of the Republic of Liberia
