He said he was lodged at hotel la Fraincheur where his dancers used to come for training which took place in the corridor. He added that the boy never slept in his room and that he had never had intercourse with him. When asked why he was accused of the same offence in 2011, he dispelled that as mere rumours. Questioned by the court, he stated that he is a professional animator working at Ecole Publique Bare hock and that he trains dancers who sometimes dance rough and almost naked on stage. Asked why the accusations against him he said that his dancers planned all that because they thought he would not pay them their dues. At the end of the defence’s case, the prosecution in their submission urged this court to find the accused person guilty of the offences for which he is being charged. It is on the evidence of the above facts that this court has to determine whether or not the accused person has been caught in the web of section 346(3) as read with section 347-1 of the Penal Code. It is a fact that the said Kone Ponke Guillaume Bienvenu is a male child aged 15 as can be seen on his birth certificate tendered in evidence by the Learned State Counsel. That he was born on the 06th of April 2002. Section 346(1) of the Penal Code provides that ‘whoever commits an indecent act in the presence of a child under the age of 16 shall be punished with imprisonment for from 2 to 5 years and with fine of from 20.000 frs to 200.000 frs” (3) “ the penalty shall be imprisonment for from 10 to 15 years where the offender has sexual intercourse with the victim notwithstanding his or her consent”. In the course of the trial, the prosecuting counsel tendered in evidence the entire case file containing the statement of the accused during preliminary investigation, wherein the latter wrote that the said Kone Ponke used to sleep in his hotel room, contrary to what he stated before this court. Can it then be inferred that in wanting to change his statement the accused person has something to hide? In the report on visit to the locus in quo by elements of the Buea Central Police, a school bag containing the belongings of Kone Ponke was found in the hotel room of the accused person. 4

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