The Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence court in Ikeja has handed down a life imprisonment sentence to Dr. Olufemi Olaleye, the Medical Director of the Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, for the sexual assault of his wife’s niece.
On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, Justice Rahman Oshodi delivered the sentence to Olaleye following a guilty verdict for the crimes of defilement and sexual penetration of a 15-year-old girl.
The judge determined that the prosecution successfully established its case with a high degree of certainty, and all the evidence presented in court supported the victim’s account.
Olaleye faced charges of defilement and sexual assault by penetration involving his wife’s niece, brought against him by the Lagos State Government.
He appeared in court on November 30, 2022, and entered a plea of not guilty to these charges.
Dr. Babajide Martins, the Director of Public Prosecutions, informed the court that Olaleye was alleged to have committed the crimes between February 2020 and November 2021.
These offenses reportedly occurred at No. 17, Layi Ogunbambi close, Maryland, Lagos state.
Olaleye was accused of engaging in non-consensual sexual activity with his wife’s 15-year-old niece.
Additionally, he was accused of sexually assaulting the teenager by using his penis to penetrate her mouth.
According to the prosecution, these actions violated Sections 137 and 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State in 2015.
After pleading not guilty, Justice Oshodi approved his release on bail, set at N50 million, requiring two sureties to match that amount, each possessing real estate in Lagos state. The judge also mandated that both sureties must furnish proof of their tax payments to the Lagos state government for the past three years.
Furthermore, Justice Oshodi instructed Olaleye to submit his international passport, along with his British passport and the original documents for his real estate, to the court’s registrar.
In the course of the trial, Aderemi Olaleye, the wife of the defendant, disclosed to the court that her husband had been engaging in sexual abuse with her niece while the niece was residing with them.
She provided testimony indicating that the defendant initially exposed the victim to explicit material and engaged in oral sexual acts, ultimately ejaculating into the victim’s mouth.
This disturbing behavior began in March 2020 and continued until July 2021.
Before Justice Oshodi, the witness recounted how the young girl confided in a relative and their family driver, revealing that the accused had been having sexual relations with her. The accused had also threatened to harm both the victim and the witness if they disclosed the abuse to anyone.
The complainant, a mother of two, testified under 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 s*xually abusing her and introduced her to p0rnography, from there he graduated to oral s*x with her, that he does this in different places in the home where there are no cameras.”