27-YEAR-OLD MAN CYRUS LEMUEL ALLEGEDLY SODOMIZES 5YEAR OLD KID IN MARSHALL
By Ida Reeves
January 25, 2025
A 27-Year-Old Man Identified as Cyrus Lemuel has being accused of allegedly sodomizing a 5year old kid In Marshall, Margibi County.
Marshall, Margibi: Lemuel, a student of the Albert Daniel Peabody elementary and junior high was arrested on Thursday January 23, 2025, at his residence and taken to police custody following complaints from several community members.
In an interview with Women’s TV in Marshall, the principal of the school Siplay Nagbe said, the accident occurred when the kid and his friends were picking cashew on the school campus. Mr. Nagbe noted that 27yr Lemuel who is a senior student in the school saw the kid in the cashew tree and requested him to come down from the tree and follow him in the bush behind the school where he sodomized him.
According to the principal, the kid later managed to come from the bush helpless and reported the incident to Marthaline Hilton, an instructor of the school. Nagbe further disclosed that the 5-year-old kid identify Lemuel through a copy of his school identification card that was displayed by the administration.
The Albert Daniel Peabody elementary and junior high school Principal disclosed that Lemuel later fled the bush after committing the act. The principal told Women’s TV Liberia that Lemuel is well known by the kid due to his constant visit at their home to do assignments with his classmates, the kid sister who is also in the 12grade and student of the Albert Daniel Peabody elementary and junior high school as well
“It was very difficult for us to know who sodomize the boy because the are many senior male students on the campus, but the kid was able to identify Lemuel after several ID cards bearing the photos of senior students were displayed”.
cashew tree where the kid was before being sodomized
According to Mr. Nagbe, Lenuel initially denied sodomizing the kid when he was engaged by the school authority but later admitted committing the crime when the police got involved “After denying sodomizing the boy, he later agreed committing the act after we got police ‘involved and pledged for mercy, saying” it was the devil that fooled him”.The principal added “At the moment, the ministry of education is aware because I wasted no time informing my DEO who later informed the administration”
Mr. Nagbe disclosed that the school has taken a decision to expel student Cyrus Lemuel because his action is not only against the handbook of the school, but a crime against the state.A member of the parents teacher’s association who spoke to Women’s TV Liberia has condemned the act and is calling for speedy investigation
Madam Esther Lawrence said, it was unthinkable for senior student who is supposed to be a future leader engaging in such act intended to spoil an innocent kid’s future. Women’s TV Liberia has gathered that the 5-year-old child is currently being treated at a health facility in Margibi county while the perpetrator undergoing police investigation.
Esther Lawrence PTA member
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Penal Law 1976, which criminalizes acts of ‘sodomy’, broadly defined. This provision carries a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment. Both men and women are criminalized under this law.
Liberia is one of two countries in Africa (along with Ethiopia) that was never formally colonized. As such, its criminal law is of domestic origin. An attempt to strengthen the law against same-sex sexual activity in 2012 failed to materialize.
There is some limited evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being occasionally subject to arrest, often after reporting incidents to police in which they were victims of assaults. There have been consistent reports of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, including assault, harassment, intimidation, and social exclusion.
