19-Year Old Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Defilement

The High Court in Fort Portal has sentenced a 19-year-old man to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to aggravated defilement. Samuel Amanyire was convicted on Monday during a High Court sitting presided over by Justice Vincent Wagona.

Amanyire had initially denied the charges when he first appeared in court last week. However, when the case came up for hearing on Monday, he changed his plea to guilty and asked the court to allow him to enter a plea bargain with the victim’s family and the prosecution.

Justice Wagona granted the request, and following a plea bargain session held in the judge’s chambers, the court sentenced Amanyire to 15 years’ imprisonment. The conviction follows allegations that Amanyire defiled a nine-year-old girl (whose identity has been withheld) in Nyamirima Zone, Rurama Parish, Ruteete Sub-county in Kabarole District.

The court heard that the accused, who was working as a casual labourer for the family, allegedly attacked the child on two occasions in March 2025. Prosecution, led by Fort Portal Resident State Attorney Harriet Adubango, told the court that the offences occurred at the victim’s home, where the suspect was employed.

According to the prosecution, the first incident occurred on the night of March 19, 2025, when the victim was alone in the kitchen at her grandmother’s home. The suspect allegedly entered, threatened her with a panga, overpowered her, and defiled her.

The second incident reportedly took place on March 22 at around 1:00 p.m., when the suspect allegedly chased away the victim’s younger sibling, took the child into the house, and defiled her again. The court further heard that the matter came to light when the victim’s mother reportedly entered the house and found the suspect in the act.

She raised an alarm, prompting the suspect to flee, but he was later arrested. Ruth Ongom, the lawyer representing the victim, said the child’s parents welcomed the sentence and expressed relief that justice had been served.

Ongom noted that the accused opted to change his plea after seeing key witnesses lined up to testify, including the victim, a police officer, and the Village Defence Secretary who arrested him. “He realized that with the available testimonies, he would likely be found guilty and chose to seek a plea bargain,” Ongom said.

She added that plea bargains can help expedite justice, especially in cases where witnesses are available and willing to testify, noting that in some instances suspects plead not guilty in the hope that witnesses may fail to appear in court.

According to the Uganda Police Force 2025 Annual Crime Report, 10,492 defilement cases were reported in 2025, with 7,019 classified as simple and 3,473 as aggravated.