A 28-year-old man from Henganofi has been sentenced to 17 years in hard labour at Bomana over the pack rape of a 19-year-old near the Mt Diamond Secondary School.
James John, from the Eastern Highlands Province, admitted to being involved in a pack rape incident on June 16, 2015.
Justice Panuel Mogish said this is the first case he heard where an offender, whose image was posted on the internet, has been successfully prosecuted, convicted and sentenced.
“It is also one of the growing number of cases where technology has been used to apprehend criminals.
“This case clearly demonstrates crimes committed can be captured on a simple mobile phone and given to police for further investigation,” he said.
John was not a student at Mt Diamond Secondary School at that time but was among a group of male students who were involved in the pack rape of the victim while one of them recorded the crime, which was posted on social media.
The incident took place when she passed out after consuming the ‘warrior’ drink with two of her girlfriends.
“They took advantage of her state of intoxication, her vulnerability, insecurity and innocence and raped her like a pack of wolves.
“Those students who venture beyond this boundary have no place in any learning institutions,” Justice Mogish went on to say in his judgment.
“The offending (criminal) has had severe and physical and emotional impact on the victim as detailed in her victim impact statement. She feels ashamed within the community, her education has been severely affected, she is scared around men and she has nightmares about the incident. She has even attempted to commit suicide.”
He sentenced John to 17 years in hard labour. He spent 2 years, 6 months and 5 days in remand. That period will be suspended from the head sentence.
Three years of sentence were also suspended from that.
John will now spend 11 years, 5 months and 2 weeks at Bomana.