A 19-year-old unemployed Maxwell Oboubi, sent everybody laughing in an Accra Circuit Court when he appeared before it on Monday charged with defilement. "My Lord, she is my girlfriend and I did not know that the girl is underage before having sex with her. It was after I had had sex with her that I got to know, so please kindly have mercy and deal with me leniently." Oboubi, who made his first appearance on July 23 pleaded guilty but sentence was deferred to Monday since none of his relatives as well as the victim were in court. His Counsel prayed the court, presided over by Justice Iddrisu Mahamadu that his client wanted to change his plea from guilty to not guilty, but the court declined the request. The grandmother of the convict, Madam Rebecca Annan also pleaded with the court for an out of court settlement. However, the court sentenced him on his own plea to a prison term of seven years in hard labour. Justice Mahamadu explained that, "defilement is not one of the cases for which the court can allow for an out of court settlement in an effort to create reconciliation". He said the court therefore, cannot accept the plea, so far as the convict had already admitted to the charge on his first appearance on June 23. The facts of the case as presented by prosecutor, Chief Inspector Christine Amuzu Srofenyoh were that, the victim is a 15 year-old pupil of a Junior High School (JHS 1) Nungua, Accra who lives with her aunt, the complainant, while Oboubi lives in the same vicinity. On June 12, the victim went to school but failed to return home until the following day when she arrived in the company of a friend with the excuse that the victim reported sick the previous day at school and was sent to her friend's house for first aid. Since her condition was not improving she spent the night with her friend. Chief Inspector Srofenyo said the friend also informed the complaint that she had administered some concoction to reduce the pain. She said the complainant on hearing the story became suspicious and asked both of them to accompany her to a clinic for examination and laboratory test to be conducted on the victim. It was detected at the clinic that the victim was pregnant and upon interrogation she mentioned Oboubi's as her boyfriend who had been having sexual intercourse with her. Oboubi was arrested and during interrogation admitted that the victim was his girlfriend and that he was responsible for her predicament. Source: GNA