Bakau Football Coach Sentenced to Seven Years for Raping 10-Year-Old Player, Court Cites Abuse of Trust

Ansumana Gassama, a football coach who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy he trained, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison, two years above the statutory minimum, after a magistrate found that the seriousness of the crime and Gassama’s abuse of trust outweighed the factors in his favor.

Principal Magistrate I. Sallah M’bai also ordered Gassama to pay 500,000 dalasi in compensation to the child. If he fails to pay, he will serve an additional year in prison, consecutively.

Gassama first appeared in court on Aug. 5, 2026, charged with one count of unnatural offences under Section 122(1)(a) of the Criminal Offences Act 2025, which carries a minimum prison term of five years.

The charge was read and explained to him in Mandinka, and he pleaded guilty, though he told the court that he had not acted intentionally. After prosecutors outlined the facts of the case, Gassama confirmed that they were accurate.

Satisfied that his plea was informed and voluntary, Magistrate M’bai convicted him and adjourned the case until Aug. 18 for sentencing.

When Gassama returned to court Tuesday, the charge was again read to him in Mandinka. The facts of the case and the exhibits were also put to him again, and he reaffirmed his guilty plea.

In asking for leniency, Gassama appealed to the court for mercy, describing the offence as a mistake he would never repeat. He said the few days he had spent at Mile 2 Prison had already been a difficult experience and had taught him a lesson.

Inspector Jallow, appearing for the Inspector General of Police, acknowledged that Gassama had no previous convictions but asked the court, under Section 191 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2025, to award compensation to the child.

In delivering the sentence, Magistrate M’bai said the circumstances were too serious for the court to simply impose the five-year statutory minimum.

Central to her decision was the age of the victim, who was 10 at the time of the assault, as confirmed by his birth certificate. The magistrate also emphasized Gassama’s position as the boy’s football coach, saying the relationship gave him access to the child and placed him in a position of trust.

According to the court, Gassama invited the boy to his home after a coaching session and exploited that relationship of trust to sexually assault him.

The magistrate also cited the nature of the assault and the physical injuries suffered by the child. Medical evidence presented to the court showed bruising and bleeding. Given the boy’s age and vulnerability, she said, the assault amounted to a grave violation of his dignity and bodily integrity.

Although no psychological assessment of the child was presented to the court, Magistrate M’bai said an experience of that nature could have lasting consequences for a child’s sense of safety and ability to trust others.

She stressed that Gassama was not being punished simply because he was a football coach. But his role mattered, she said, because it explained how he gained access to the child and abused a relationship in which he was expected to provide guidance and protection.

The court also considered factors in Gassama’s favor, including his youth, lack of previous convictions, guilty plea and cooperation with the proceedings. His decision to plead guilty, the magistrate noted, also spared the child and his family the ordeal of a contested trial.

But Magistrate M’bai found that those mitigating factors did not outweigh the gravity of the offence, the vulnerability of the victim or the breach of trust involved. A five-year sentence, she concluded, would not adequately reflect the seriousness of the crime.

She sentenced Gassama to seven years in prison and ordered him to pay 500,000 dalasi in compensation to the child. If he fails to pay the compensation, he will serve an additional year in prison.