Accra, May 17, GNA - A music instructor of Great Lamptey Mills School, who defiled a nine-year-old pupil at the school's toilet facility, was on Monday sentenced to seven years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court.

Gideon Nana Ofei Dodoo, 33, pleaded not guilty to defilement, but the court at the end of the trial found him guilty.

It said that the prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP= ) Sarah Acquah had been able to prove the case of defilement beyond reasona= ble doubt. ASP Acquah told the court that Veronica Teiku, a petty trader residi= ng at Ofankor, in Accra was the complainant. The Prosecution said the accused lived at Laterbiokoshie, a suburb o= f Accra suburb, and in September 2009 and March 2010, the complainant notic= ed changes in the way the victim walked and quizzed her over that. ASP Acquah said that the victim told the complainant that the accuse= d had been defiling her at the school's toilet after lessons. The complainant reported the case to the Police at Tesano and a medi= cal form was issued to the victim for medical examination. The medical report revealed that the victim had been defiled, and th= e matter was refereed to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit for=

investigations after which the accused was charged with the offence.