Court urges parents and guardians to take care of children

A Kiambu court Friday urged parents and guardians to take good care of their children and those entrusted to them to protect them from sexual abuse and other social-economic hazards that come with holidays.
Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate, Ms. Stella Atambo said parents have a duty to bring up children responsibly, adding that the long December holiday posed a threat to children’s safety.
The Judicial officer made the remarks after a 12-year-old boy was presented to her to take plea for allegedly stealing a bicycle.
The standard 4 pupil however pleaded not guilty to the charge and the magistrate enquired from him if any of his parents was present in court. “Yes my father is around as I talked to him behind the cells,” he told the magistrate.
At this point, his file was placed aside as the father was sought.
When the file was called for again, the father was already in court and the magistrate enquired from him if he had money to deposit as cash bail for his son and take him home.
“I do not want to keep this minor in custody as he is very young and should not be allowed to mingle with adults in the cells,” she remarked.
The father said he could raise 3,000 shillings which he was instructed to deposit with the court and take his son home.
Ms. Atambo further advised the father to try and talk to the complainant with a view of solving the dispute out of court.
“This is a very simple issue that should not make this innocent boy stay in custody just because he enjoyed a ride and forgot to return the mountain bike to the owner,” she said.
The same court also charged a teenager with sodomizing a 12 year old boy. The court had referred the accused to Kiambu level 5 hospital for age assessment which revealed that he was below 18.
The accused allegedly committed the offense on October 14 2018 at Gathanga area in Kiambaa Sub-county.
He faced an alternative charge of indecently touching the private parts of the minor and the case was scheduled to be heard on February 25 2019 after he pleaded not guilty.
He was remanded at Kamiti Juvenile remand home until then.
By Lydia Shiroya