MONROVIA – With a five-witness corroborated evidence and testimonies against Dependent Franklin Gongar, the assigned Circuit Judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit Court for Gbarpolu County, His Honor, Wesseh Alphonsus Wesseh, has adjudged defendant Franklin Gongar guilty of Statutory Rape and sentenced him to 50-year imprisonment.
The defendant was convicted for raping a 12-year girl whom he had sent to purchased liquor for him.
Defendant Gongar, aged 44, was indicted by the State for raping the 12-years-old girl (name withheld” in Gbarnga Gborkata, Bokumu District, Gbarpolu County during the morning hours of November 1, 2023.
The crime was committed after he gave the Victim $50 Liberian dollars to buy for him liquor (cane juice) at a neighbor’s house in the same town and upon the return of the minor, the defendant took the moment to forcibly pull the kid into his room and engaged her in sexual intercourse when she had gone to deliver the cane juice to him to his house.
Our Gbarpolu Correspondence said Judge Wesseh, in his ruling, pinpointed the Prosecution’s evidence during the trial and formed his linkage of defendant Gongar’s act to the crime of rape.
After he pleaded an alibi and mere denial while testifying on his own behalf, he failed to substantiate his plea of alibi and mere denial by providing an alibi witness(s).
In recent years, the gold-rich county of Gbarpolu has become a hot spot for several rape cases.
In 2021, a child’s private part was torn apart with a razor blade by a defendant.
In addition to a last month incident when Judge Wesseh released several rape suspects who were incarcerated for some two years without indictment.
Besides, the court recently sentenced a 40-year-old man to imprison after he pleaded guilty to raping a girl, 3, last month.
The defense lawyers announced an appeal to the Supreme Court of Liberia.
At the call of the case, State prosecution produced five witnessed to prove the indictment which substantially alleged that Defendant Gongar had a devious sexual intercourse with, AJ (the initial of the minor), aged 12, after he gave her L$50 to fetch for him liquor(cane juice),
Waiting the girl to deliver the liquor to him, Defendant Gongar hauled the girl to himself into his room and removed her wearing from her, put his hand to her mouth to suppress her cry for help, and inserted his penis into her vagina, thereby causing the minor to bleed, according to the indictment, which furthered that Gongar threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
However, the indictment alleged that the victim, afraid of being killed by the defendant, therefore kept it to herself unexposed until a neighbor, who was plaiting her hair, noticed that she was bleeding from her vagina and then informed the victim’s grandmother.
Nevertheless, when Defendant Gongar was arraigned regularly before the court on Monday, June 4, 2024, during the 17th day jury sitting, he pleaded NOT GUILTY to the indictment, thereby joining issues with the State.
Subsequently, a fifteen man-trial jury was selected and empaneled to sit on this case to hear the facts as the name of the victim was expunged from the records of the court and replaced with the letter “AJ” or the “victim”.
During the trial, the prosecution produced general five witnesses, with the prosecution’s first witness testifying in camera that she is 12 years of age and is in the second grade and lived in Gbarnga Gborkata with her grandmother.
The witness, also the victim, testified that on November 1, 2023, during the morning hours, the defendant called her and then gave her L$50 to buy him liquor or cane juice at Ma Hawa’s place and that after buying the liquor, she took it to him to his house.
She told the court that while she was standing in the hallway to deliver the liquor, the defendant hauled her into his room and then removed her underwear from on her, placed his hand to her mouth to stop her from alarming, and then inserted his penis into her vagina.
She indicated that it was thereafter that she started to bleed from her vagina, adding that she could not say anything because the defendant had then threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
She, however, said in her testimonies that while her friend was plaiting her hair, she started to bleed from her vagina and then her aunty alerted her grandmother.
She further testified and said that at the time she was being sexually abused by the defendant in his room, there was no one in the entire house at the time.
The victim finally testified that she was brought to Bopolu, after some 8 days when the incident occurred, and she then testified to a pink panty, which she said she had on her when the victim had sexual intercourse with her.
This witness was cross examined by defense lawyer, the trial jurors and was then discharged with thanks of court.
Following the testimonies and cross examinations of victim and other witnesses, the prosecution made an application before the court, concluding the production of oral and documentary evidence and prayed court for the admission into evidence of its documentary evidence, which were testified to, identified, confirmed and reconfirmed by its witnesses, to form a cogent part of these proceedings and gave notice to produce rebuttal witnesses, if need be.
Amongst other thing, the court held that that the victim had corroborated her material and essential parts by state’s witnesses, which is significant for the Court to hold the defendant for the crime of rape.
The court therefore holds no doubt that the jurors’ majority verdict shall remain permanent; as “a judicial conviction connotes, “that the offense must be correctly charged in a valid indictment, that only legal evidence should be placed before the jury, or in a case, before a judge, where the judge serves both as a defacto jury and judge, which is asked to convict; and that the evidence thus shifted should be satisfactorily to establish the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt”.
The guilty verdict of the Trial Jurors was affirmed and confirmed; and Defendant Franklin Gongar was adjudged guilty of Crime of Statutory Rape and is sentenced to 50 years of imprisonment, to be served at the National palace of Corrections, Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County or the Monrovia Central Prison.
Meanwhile the Clerk of this Court was thereby ordered to send a mandate to the Authority of the Bopolu Central Prison to continue to hold unto Defendant Gongar pending his transfer to the National Palace of Corrections or to the Monrovia Central Prison, and it is so ordered.
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