A 21-year-old man has been jailed for six months for having sex with a female under 16 years old. This is despite the fact that the girl consented.
During sentencing in the Supreme Court yesterday, Justice Vui Clarence Nelson reminded that consent does not count when the girl is under age.
<script async src="http://www.samoaobserver.ws///pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- ads-articles(24.03.14) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="2395638412"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>
The defendant, Shalom Tapusalaia, who pleaded guilty, was represented by lawyer, Leota Raymond Schuster. The prosecutor was Ofisa Tagaloa, of the Attorney General’s Office.
According to the Police summary of facts, the girl was 15 years old at the time of the incident. They met at a rugby match.
“The complainant was less than 16 years of age and therefore what the defendant did is against the law,” Justice Vui said.
“Even though the sexual intercourse was done given her consent, the consent from the under aged girl is no excuse."
“The reason the law is there is to protect them from predatory males. The defendant in this case is six years older, he should’ve known better and exercised better judgment.”
The Court took into consideration the defendant’s guilty plea, his good probation report and the fact that his family has already apologised to victim and paid a hefty fine to the Village Council for the offense.
{googleAds}<script async src="http://www.samoaobserver.ws///pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-2469982834957525"
data-ad-slot="1033882026"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}