The Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced the Medical Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, Dr Olufemi Olaleye, to life imprisonment for defiling his wife’s niece when the minor was 15/16 years old.
In his judgment, Justice Rahman Oshodi held that the prosecution, the Lagos State Government, had proved the charge against the defendant and the evidence against him was compelling.
Dr Olaleye was arraigned on November 30, 2022, on a two-count charge of defilement and sexual assault by penetration of the minor between December 2019 and July 2022 when she came to live with their family.
The prosecution, led by Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr Babajide Martins, had told the court that Olaleye sexually assaulted his wife’s niece for about 19 months until the wife discovered and reported it to the police. The minor is said to be 18 years old now.
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At his arraignment, the doctor pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him.
The prosecution subsequently called six witnesses in proof of its case against him. The minor, the defendant’s wife, a medical doctor and another child care expert, both of whom examined the minor as well as two police officers involved in the investigations, testified in the trial.
The defendant also testified in his own defence alongside his friend of over 40 years as well as his forensic physician who faulted the medical evidence presented by the prosecution.
Having evaluated all the evidence before him, Justice Oshodi noted that it was “compelling”.
According to the judge, Olaleye’s confessional statement before his former counsel, Mr Olalekan Buruji, and the Divisional Police Officer at the Anthony Police Station, Lagos State, proved that he committed the offences.
The judge held that Olaleye said in the statement that he regretted his act.
The judge also held that Olaleye’s denial of the statement during trial did not hold water.
Justice Oshodi described the medical director as a dangerous offender who did not show any sign of remorse during the trial.
The court found the defendant guilty of the offence.
In his plea for leniency, counsel to the convict, Adebisi Oridate said: “He is a medical doctor who offers services to people suffering from cancer-related ailments, especially women.
In sentencing, Justice Oshodi said, “By the laws of Lagos State, I am compelled to hand you a sentence of life imprisonment on each count of your offence, but your counsel has said that you are a first-time offender and a doctor of cancer patients.
The judge also directed that Olaleye should have his name written in the Sexual Offences Register of the Lagos State Government.
During the trial, the convict’s wife, Aderemi Olaleye, had told the court in her testimony that her husband had been sexually abusing her niece during her stay in their house.
Mrs Olaleye said she got to know about the alleged crimes after the survivor confessed to her aunt and the family’s driver that the doctor had been sleeping with her and threatening to kill her if she told anyone.
The mother of two, who is the complainant said on oath, “My lord, on November 27, 2021, my second cousin told my aunty who is my mother’s sister that since March 2020, Femi has been sexually abusing her and introduced her to pornography, from there he graduated to oral sex with her, that he does this in different places in the house where there are no cameras”.
The offences contravene the provision of Sections 137 and 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
