A 19-YEAR-OLD student of a Tailevu school who was convicted of committing sexual crimes against his junior has been jailed for 11 years with a non-parole period of seven years and 10 months.

The accused, a first offender, was charged with two counts of sexual assault and one of rape.

The judgment was delivered by Justice Usaia Ratuvili in the High Court in Suva yesterday.

The accused, who is currently in his last year of high school, committed the offences against his junior who was 16 at the time.

The court records show the incident occurred in the school’s dormitory toilet cubicle on November 12, 2022.

“A deterrent sentence is only fair and just in the circumstances to send a message to society that children need to be protected from being victims of sexual offences in all circumstances, especially in all schools,” Justice Ratuvuli ruled.

“Schools are meant to be a safe place for children to learn and thrive, and this is especially so in boarding schools where parents entrust their children to the teachers and school administrators.”

Justice Ratuvuli said teachers in such situations acted ‘in loco parentis’ as they had to look after the children under their charge, not only during school hours, but also after hours, ensuring they are fed and have a safe place to study and rest each night.

“To achieve this, they formulate school rules like lights-out and enforcing the time when everyone needs to be sleeping and not moving around.

“These offences happened in the breach of these rules and regulations. The accused was moving around, and he went into a dorm that he was not supposed to be in, the junior dorm, and committed these offences in the junior dorm and the adjoining toilet cubicle of the junior dorm.

“This achieves the aim of sending a deterrent message to other similarly placed offenders whilst also giving you the opportunity to rehabilitate.”