A 45-YEAR-old resident of Katamanso near Ashaiman, Joseph Ankrah has been jailed 15 years in hard labour by Tema Circuit Court ‘A’ for sexually assaulting his 13-year-old daughter for four years.

He admitted to the sexual offence and was subsequently convicted.

However, before the sentence, prosecution told the circuit court that the complainant in the case was the Kpone Katamanso Girl Child Education Officer, Christiana Mensah, a resident of Tema Community 5.

The victim and Ankrah, her biological father, lived in the same house at Katamanso. The victim is reportedly a class-five pupil of the Katamanso Presbyterian Primary School while her incest father’s occupation was not mentioned.

Prosecution said during the month of January 2013, the complainant received information from the headmistress of the school, a certain Margaret Mettle that the victim had informed the school authorities about the accused having sexual intercourse with her in their home.

Armed with this information, the complainant, Christiana Mensah, reportedly took the matter up with the school authorities and after investigation, she realised that the information she had received was true.

She subsequently reported the case to the Tema Regional branch of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) who quickly moved in and arrested Ankrah.

In the course of the accused person’s interrogation, DOVVSU officials got to know that Joseph Ankrah started sleeping with his daughter when she was nine years old, with the last incident occurring on February 3, 2013.

The father, who admitted to the offence, was charged with defilement and incest and subsequently arraigned before the circuit court which sentenced him to 15 years’ imprisonment in hard labour.