A 68-YEAR-OLD Chiredzi man will spend the next 14 years in jail for sodomising his neighbour’s five-year-old son. Makasani Gosha Mukondo sexually abused the boy after his mother sent him to collect dried vegetables at Mukondo’s homestead.

Chiredzi senior regional magistrate Mrs Judith Zuyu convicted Mukondo on his own plea of guilty on Monday. Mrs Zuyu sentenced him to 17 years in jail before suspending three years on condition of good behaviour.

Delivering sentence Mrs Zuyu said Mukondo acted wickedly when he sexually assaulted an innocent boy who looked up to him for protection. “What you did to the innocent boy does not only defy logic but shows that you harbour some animalistic spirit.

The court heard the woman ordered her son to accompany Mukondo to his house to get the vegetables.

“Upon entering the house Mukondo ordered the boy to lower his trousers and he had anal sex with him against the victim’s consent. After committing the crime, Mukondo gave the victim the dried vegetables but told the boy not to tell anyone what had happened. When he arrived home, his mother asked why he had taken long and he narrated what had transpired,” said Ms Rusere.

She said a report was made to Hippo Valley Police leading to Mukondo’s arrest. A medical report produced in court indicated that there was penetration on the boy.