Yaw Gahornu sentenced to 20 years for defiling nine-year-old girl

Yaw Gahornu, an 87-year-old unemployed man, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the defilement of a nine-year-old girl in Ofankor, Accra. The sentence was handed down by the Police Headquarters Gender-Based Violence Court after Gahornu pleaded guilty to two counts of defilement.

The court ordered the two 10-year sentences to run consecutively. While Gahornu was discharged on a separate charge of unnatural carnal knowledge, the court emphasized that the seriousness of the offense and the need for deterrence warranted a custodial sentence, despite his status as a first-time offender.

The abuse occurred between July and August 2026. The incident was discovered after the victim’s mother noticed blood stains on the child’s clothing. The abuse was further confirmed when Gahornu’s granddaughter reportedly caught him in the act on August 31, leading to a police report. Medical examinations indicated the child suffered from abdominal pain and other complications following the assaults.