BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
A Jambesi man has been sentenced to 315 community service for having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl on several occasions.
Artwell Mathe (24) from Masikili Village in the Chief Shana area near Victoria Falls was caught in a compromising position with the minor by her mother in the Matetsi Forestry area sometime in 2019.
Mathe, who is married, was convicted on charges of having sexual intercourse with a minor by Victoria Falls resident magistrate Lindiwe Maphosa after pleading guilty to indecent acts with the victim.
Prosecutors said that on an unknown date in August 2019, Mathe met the girl at borehole and he proposed love to her.
The girl accepted the proposal. In September the two had sexual intercourse on two occasions at Mathe’s house.
The peadophile’s criminal acts were discovered by the minor’s mother the same month when he was found fondling her in the bush.
She reported the matter at the Matetsi police base, leading to Mathe’s arrest.
He admitted during the trial that the girl often came for sleepovers at his house, claiming she was running away from abuse at her home.
Mathe, however, said although they used to sleep in the same bedroom, they never had sexual intercourse.
The girl even pleaded with the court to drop the charges against him saying they were in love.
Maphosa convicted Mathe and said the courts needed to send a message that such acts were not acceptable.
“This offence is relatively serious as it involves a young person, most of whom are still school going and need to focus on school and not to have their lives complicated by older people, who lure them into prematurely engaging in sexual activities,” she said.
Mathe was sentenced to 15 months in prison and six months were suspended for five years on condition that the offender does not commit any sexual offence during that period.
The remaining nine months were converted into 315 hours of community service at the Matetsi police base.
Maphosa said in reaching at the sentence, she had considered that Mathe was married with one child and was a first-time offender.