A 24-year-old student of the Assin Fosu College of Education who threatened to circulate nude videos and pictures of his lover, a policewoman, and extorted GH¢1,500 from her, has been sentenced to three years in prison in hard labour by an Accra Circuit Court.
Francis Aggrey was charged with conspiracy to commit crime and extortion.
Aggrey, who was full of remorse, pleaded guilty to the charges at the court, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Essandoh, a High Court judge, with additional responsibility as a Circuit Court judge.
His accomplice, Christian Donkor, also a student of the college, is, however, at large.
Passing the sentence, the judge deferred the first count – conspiracy to commit crime – but sentenced him to serve a three-year jail term for the other count of extortion of a public officer, adding that “this is to serve as a deterrent” .
The court deferred judgement on the count of conspiracy since Donkor is on the run and is yet to face the law. According to the court, conspiracy involves two people as one cannot conspire against himself.
Telegram account and threats
Detective Sergeant Sarpong said the complainant, who is a policewoman, had been in an amorous relationship with Aggrey for some time.
According to him, on May 15, Aggrey suspected the complainant of cheating on him.
As a result, Aggrey created an online chatting account on Telegram with a fake identity as “Nana N” and started chatting with the policewoman.
Detective Sergeant Sarpong said Aggrey, in the course of the chat, posted the complainant’s nude pictures and videos to her demanding an amount of GH¢ 3,000 or else he would circulate them on social media.
Aggrey then forwarded the pictures and videos to Christian Donkor to pressure the complainant to pay the money.
The prosecution said Donkor, upon receiving them, forwarded some to the complainant, threatening to circulate them if the complainant delayed with the payment.
The complainant informed her boss who disguised himself and chatted with Donkor online.
Detective Sergeant Sarpong said Donkor gave a mobile number account to the boss to pay in GH¢1,500 on Friday May 15, and threatened to circulate the videos if the boss failed to comply.
Part payment
The prosecutor said the boss complied with the demands and paid GH¢1,500 to Donkor on May 15 through the mobile money account.
According to the prosecutor, the boss suspected Aggrey as the mastermind and asked the complainant to confront him (Aggrey).
Mr Sarpong said on May 18, 2020, the complainant did just that and Aggrey admitted the offence, citing jealousy as the reason for his action.
Arrest and investigation
According to the prosecutor, on May 19, Aggrey was arrested and handed over to the police.
Mr Sarpong said during investigations, Aggrey mentioned Donkor as his accomplice.