The mother of an incest victim has been criticized by a Supreme Court Justice in Samoa for failing to protect her child from sexual abuse.
Justice Mata Tuatagaloa made the criticism during the sentencing of the woman’s husband on five charges of sexual misconduct, including incest, with his step daughter.
The incident happened in 2016 when the victim was only 14 years old.
TV1 Samoa reports that Justice Tuatagaloa did not accept a probationary report that the mother had been saddened that her daughter kept the incident from her, but the judge accepted the victim’s statement that she had told her mother about her husband’s actions.
“That means you, as the mother, failed to protect this child from this kind of criminal activity,” she said.
Judge Tuatagaloa told the defendant that he had breached the young girl’s trust and now she will live with the trauma of his actions.
Justice Tuatagaloa then sent the man to jail for 17 years and four months.
