Senior Magistrate moves to court to stop prosecution over alleged defilement of a teenage girl case
Kehancha Senior Principal Magistrate, James Ongondo has moved to court seeking to stop the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Inspector General of police (IG) from prosecuting him over alleged defilement of a 17-year-old girl case.
Ongondo has requested the High Court to issue conservatory orders prohibiting the DPP, Inspector General of Police and Director of Criminal Investigations from arresting, arraigning, or instituting criminal proceedings against him pending the hearing and determination of his application.
“The court be pleased to issue an interim order restraining DCI, IG and the DPP, their agents, servants or employees from arresting, arraigning in court, charging and prosecuting the petitioner or otherwise instituting criminal proceedings against the magistrate pending the hearing and determination of the main petition”, he states in court papers.
Through lawyer John Swaka, the magistrate wants a stay of his prosecution at the Bomet court.
According to the court papers, Ongondo was arrested after the lady in his company informed DCI officers that she was under the age of 18 years which necessitated his arrest.
The magistrate had booked a guest room at Kaplong at 8pm and later at 11pm, he brought the teenage girl into his room.
The manager of the guest house alerted Sotik Police Station officers, who laid an ambush.
Ongondo claims to be a married father who enjoys sharing a drink with friends after completing his formal tasks, a practice that is popular around the world.
According to the magistrate’s plea, he was at a social occasion with his peers when he was escorted by DCI officers for being with an underage female.
He accused the proprietor of the bar where he was reportedly discovered with the minor of neglecting to verify the girl’s age and allowing her to consume alcoholic beverages.
“At no point did the owner of the establishment verify the age of the girl (name withheld) as alcoholic beverages kept trickling to the table.
The waiter serving the table did not raise any issue at any point,” he states.
Ongondo adds that the manager of the establishment had never seen him in the company of the young lady before March 31 or April 1, 2022, and as such could not attest to her true age.
The magistrate stated in his court documents that he has since verified the true age of the girl through the production of her birth certificate which shows that she is aged 22 years.
