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State v Ratuva [2012] FJHC 31; HAC007.2008 (23 January 2012)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF FIJI
AT LAUTOKA
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL CASE NO.: HAC 007 OF 2008

BETWEEN:

STATE

AND:

SAVENACA RATUVA

Ms. S. Puamau for the State

Mr M. Degei for the accused

Date of Hearing : 9th December, 2011, 19th January, 2012.

Date of Sentence : 23rd January, 2012.

SENTENCE
[Child Rape]
__________________

[1] On the 9th December 2011, the accused entered a plea of guilty to four counts of rape and one count of indecent assault. On the 19th January 2012 he admitted a set of relevant facts put to him. He was consequently found guilty of all five counts and convicted accordingly. The counts were laid under the Penal Code.

[2] All four counts of rape charge him with raping a young girl whose name is withheld. These four charges of rape are dated on various dates in the year 2007 and the indecent assault of the same girl is said to have occurred in February 2008.

Facts

3. The facts admitted by the accused are as follows:

The victim was an 8 year old girl attending school in the Western Division. The accused and the girl's mother are cousins and the girl calls him uncle. At the time of the offending the accused was living in the victim's home in a village in Ba. In all four counts of rape, the accused had forceably taken the victim into a bedroom, had undressed her and then forceably raped her. On three occasions the mother was away from the house and on the fourth occasion, the mother was cooking in the kitchen when the victim, changing out of her school uniform was forceably assaulted. As to the indecent assault, the mother was out of the house and the victim was sleeping when the accused lay next to her and invaded her with his fingers.

4. The accused readily admitted the offence to the Police when he was interviewed under caution. A medical examination of the victim corroborated the allegations of penile and digital penetration.

The Law

5. Rape of children is now regarded quite properly as a very serious offence and rape by an older relative is a seriously aggravating feature. Goundar J said in State v AV HAC 192 of 2008,

"Rape is the most serious form of sexual assault.......Society cannot condone any form of sexual assaults on children.....Sexual offenders must be deferred from committing this

kind of offence".

6. Literature from psychiatrists tell us that sexual abuse has an effect on the emotional development of a child in a most disturbing and perverse manner. The Court's must recognize this abuse and its psychological harm with harsh sentences.

7. Sentences in the range of ten to fifteen years are now regarded as appropriate for sexual offending against children.

Mitigation

8. The accused is 35 years old and a farmer. He is married with a 7 year old adopted daughter.
   

9. I am told he is very remorseful and seeks forgiveness from all concerned parties. The most important mitigating feature is of course his co-operation with the Police from the very beginning and his pleas of guilty thereby saving Court's time.

10. For each count of rape I take a starting point of twelve years to reflect the severity of the offence. To this I add two years for the serious breach of trust in that he is, as an uncle, an adult in a supervisory role. I add two more years for the continued offending over a period of more than a year. From this interim total of 16 years, I deduct five years for the guilty pleas and his co-operation and to reflect the time already served and for his clear record I deduct one further year.

11. For each count of rape (Counts One to Four) the accused will serve four concurrent terms of ten years each.

12. The maximum penalty for indecent assault is five years, and for invasive assaults the tariff is from two to four years. For this indecent assault (Count 5) I sentence the accused to a term of three years, a term to be served concurrently with the rape sentences.

13. The total term of imprisonment is ten years, and he will serve a minimum of eight years.

P.K. Madigan
JUDGE

At Lautoka
23rd January, 2012.