A Ho Circuit Court has sentenced a 26¬year-old chainsaw operator to a total of 19 years imprisonment with hard labour for defiling two school girls aged 15 and 10. The accused person, Divine Sewornu, pleaded guilty on the charge of defilement and was sentenced on his own plea. The prosecutor, Chief Inspector Joseph Afayizu of the Volta Regional Police Headquarters, said Sewornu was married to the mother of the 15-year-old girl. Chief Inspector Afayizu said although the couple did not live together, Sewornu visited his wife frequently. Unknown to his wife, whenever Sewornu visited, he sneaked into his stepdaughter’s bedroom at night to defile her and warned her not to tell anybody otherwise he would stop looking after them. Chief Inspector Afayizu added that this had been going on for a while until one day in July when his wife attended a funeral at Ziavi in the Ho District. The stepdaughter, who was frightened by the ordeal, invited her 10-year-old friend to spend the night with her. The prosecutor said that night, Sewornu went to her room and had sex with the two of them, after which he offered the 10-year-old girl 30 pesewas. The following day, the second victim left for her house and reported her ordeal to her uncle. Chief Inspector Afayizu said after that, Sewornu continued to have sex with his stepdaughter until she informed her father who, together with the mother of the 10-year-old girl, reported the case to the police at Dzolo Gbogame. The judge, His Honour Mr. Richard Kogyapwah, did not hesitate in passing the sentence on him. Mr. Kogyapwah sentenced Sewornu to 10 and nine years in prison respectively to run concurrently. Meanwhile, the Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Alex Bidie has expressed concern about the spate of defilement and rape cases in the region. DCOP Bedie said statistics indicates that most of the victims were aged 10 to 15. He said between January and June this year, 93 cases of defilement had been recorded as against 136 cases last year. The regional commander, therefore, appealed to the various law courts to seal swiftly with such cases to serve as a deterrent to others. DCOP Bedie also asked parents to report such cases promptly to the Domestic Violent and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service.