THE Harare Regional Court has acquitted an operations assistant at an orphanage who was being accused of raping a 13-year-old orphan at the facility.
Lloyd Josamu (31) of Adlyn Road in Marlborough had pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and two counts of rape.
Josamu, who was being represented by Liveours Mundieta, was acquitted after a full trial with magistrate Sandra Mupindu ruling that the witnesses’ testimonies were inconsistent.
Mupindu also took into account the defence filed by Josamu that his girlfriend who testified in the matter had submitted inconsistent evidence.
The court heard that Josamu, an operations assistant at the Shalom Children’s Home, summoned the alleged victim to his room some time in January last year.
It was alleged that she entered the room to find him watching pornography.
The court heard he then allegedly ordered the victim to touch his privates while he caressed her before raping her without using protection.
The State had alleged that he threatened the complainant not to disclose the matter to anyone, saying he would have her removed from the children’s home.
The court heard that the complainant kept quiet until January 22, 2024, when she attended counselling sessions organised at the children’s centre.
She reported the matter and the operations assistance was arrested.