Relatives of Thomas Tichler, the 57-year-old Briton who was jailed four years for causing harm and indecently assaulting a three-year-old girl, say he has been made a scapegoat because he is innocent. At a press conference in Accra Wednesday to tell their father's story, Mr James Tichler, one of the convict's three children, said circumstances surrounding the case, coupled with bias investigation, had led to Tichler’s predicament. He, therefore, appealed to Ghanaians not to condemn his father outright but assess his side of the case objectively. He said the convict's lawyers had been asked to appeal against the conviction. An Accra circuit court, presided over by Mrs Georgina Mensah-Datsa on February 19, 2008 convicted Tichler on both counts and sentenced him to four and two years respectively to run concurrently, effective November 2, 2007 when he was remanded in custody. The court took into consideration the fact that Tichler was assaulted by the father of the girl, while the physical injury to the victim was not permanent. Tichler was said to have inserted his fingers into the victim's vagina but he denied the offence and pleaded not guilty to the charges. A total of seven witnesses, including the victim, her parents, the victim's two siblings, a medical doctor and the investigator in the case, testified for the prosecution. Tichler testified and denied any wrongdoing and called two witnesses to testify for him. The facts of the case were that Tichler, who arrived in Ghana on September 25, last year for a three-month attachment with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), committed the offence at the victim's residence on October 13, 2007, barely a week after he had arrived in the country. According to the prosecution, Tichler visited the victim's father at North Legon, near the Redco Flats, on October 13, 2007 and on reaching there, the victim's father left the victim and her two siblings in the care of Tichler in order to purchase some items from town. Tichler engaged the victim and her two siblings, aged eight and six, in the sitting room but later managed to engage the victim alone and succeeded in inserting his fingers into her vagina. The victim mentioned the accused person as the one who inserted his fingers into her vagina when she was questioned by her mother. Tichler was arrested and handed over to the Legon police. The victim was later taken to hospital where she was examined, treated and discharged. According to the Court the evidence of the little girl, which was taken in camera, was spontaneous and was not disjointed to seem as if it had been rehearsed, as suggested by Tichler. It said the girl's story was consistent, articulate and honest and found Tichler's act of carrying the girl on his shoulders and putting her down on the sofa very contemporaneous with the time of the commission of the offence. Source: Daily Graphic