By Fatima Kpaka
A sexual model court in Sierra Leone has sentenced an opposition politician to 32 years in prison after he was found guilty on eight counts of sexual penetration.
Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray will spend about 17 years behind bars because the sentence is to run currently.
The victim, a secondary school student, was 15 at the time of the incident, according to prosecutor.
The verdict on the protracted case was passed on Friday, February 17, by High Court Judge Samuel Taylor.
Mansaray was detained in July 2020.
He is the founder and head of the Alliance Democratic Party (ADP), an opposition party that was very critical of ruling government. He contested the presidency in 2018.
He denied the charges against him.
Mansaray was tried alongside the aunt of the victim, with whom he is believed to have connived to sexually exploit the girl. The co-accused was given 15 years jail term.