A 60 year-old paedophile recently pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse after he repeatedly raped a girl over a period of several months in 2015, official records show.

Jeffrey Tagaro pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to one criminal charge of “sexual intercourse with any child under the age of 13 years” last month, according to documents made available to The Daily Post by an employee at the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The victim was aged twelve when the first offence occurred, according to the charge sheet. This charge carries a penalty of up to 14 years of imprisonment pursuant the Penal Code.

At the same Court appearance, Tagaro also plead guilty to three separate criminal charges of “sexual intercourse with any child under the age of 15 years but of or over the age of 13 years”, according to the employee.

Each of these three charges carries a penalty of up to five years of imprisonment pursuant to the Penal Code.

All the charges relate to the same victim, who was repeatedly raped over a period of time spanning more than half a year in 2015.

Tagaro will appear at the Supreme Court for sentencing at 9am on the 20th of September, the Public Prosecutor’s office employee noted.

Cases of child sex abuse have become a high-profile problem not only in Vanuatu. In other Pacific island and southeast Asian states, officials have warned that paedophilia is becoming an increasing problem, and tougher much punishments are needed to combat it. READ MORE

SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST