A man has been convicted of sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy after pleading guilty to a charge of unnatural offences before the Principal Magistrate’s Court in Banjul.

Principal Magistrate I. Sallah M’bai convicted Ansumana Gassama after he admitted the offence and accepted the prosecution’s account of events without objection.

The offence occurred in Bakau on 23 July 2026 and was prosecuted under Section 122(1)(a) of the Criminal Offences Act 2025.

According to the prosecution, the child reported the incident to his parents shortly after it occurred and was taken to Kanifing Hospital for emergency medical treatment. 

The matter was then reported to the Bakau New Town Police Station, leading to Gassama’s arrest.

Police told the court that the accused voluntarily confessed during questioning, while investigators submitted medical reports, photographs from the scene, the child’s birth certificate and other evidence. 

Gassama did not object to the admissibility of the exhibits.

During the proceedings, Gassama told the court: “I did it, but it was not my intention.” 

When asked whether he wished to maintain his guilty plea, he replied: “Yes, I do.”

In her ruling, Magistrate M’bai found that the prosecution had proved all the elements of the offence and held that the accused’s claim that he had not intended to commit the act did not constitute a legal defence.

“The words of Section 122(1)(a) are very clear, and the facts support the charge,” the magistrate said before convicting Gassama as charged.

The court remanded Gassama at Mile Two Prisons pending mitigation and sentencing, which has been scheduled for 18 August 2026.