A Cape Coast Circuit Court has sentenced a farmer to 24 years imprisonment in hard labour for defiling a five-year-old girl.

The convict, Richard Wonder, pleaded not guilty to the charge but was found guilty by the court.

Prosecuting, Detective Chief Inspector John Asare Bediako told the court that the complainant (name withheld) is a cook and an aunt to the victim.

He said both the complainant and convict lived at Jukwa Frami in the Hemang-Lower-Denkyira District of the Central Region.

Chief Inspector Bediako said on Friday, October 1, at about 12:30 hours, the convict met the victim on her way to buy chewing gum and lured her to his room under the pretext of giving her coins and had sexual intercourse with her.

Prosecution said the victim bled profusely after the act and was sent to the hospital for examination, treatment, and counseling.

He said when the convict later released her, the victim narrated her ordeal to the complainant, who made a formal report to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in Cape Coast.