Defense Seeks Acquittal Of Ex-NSA Official In Sodomy Trial …Cites Doubts In Evidence

The defense team in the ongoing trial of former National Security Agency (NSA) employee Peter Bon Jallah has asked Criminal Court “B” to acquit him, arguing that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to sustain the charges involving the alleged rape and sodomy of a 16-year-old male minor.

The motion for judgment of acquittal was filed Monday, September 28, 2026, after the Prosecution presented its evidence. Jallah’s lawyers cited what the defense described as inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case, particularly concerning the alleged locations where the offenses allegedly occurred.

The defense pointed to Camp Johnson Road, where the court had been expected to conduct a crime-scene inspection. According to counsel, the planned visit was abandoned after the chief investigator of the Women and Children Protection Services testified that police had taken the alleged victim to the location on two occasions, but he was unable to identify the alleged crime scene.

The defense argued that the inability to identify the location raises reasonable doubt about the alleged Camp Johnson Road incident. Defense counsel also cited what they described as discrepancies between the alleged victim’s testimony and the police charge sheet concerning where the alleged offenses occurred inside Jallah’s residence.

During testimony, the alleged victim reportedly described Jallah’s bedroom as large, with an elevated bed and an adjoining bathroom. However, defense counsel said an inspection of the room on September 24 showed that it did not correspond with that description, arguing that the discrepancy further weakens the prosecution’s evidence.

The defense also challenged the medical evidence presented by the prosecution, citing testimony from a nurse who examined the alleged victim at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center. According to the defense, the nurse testified that her findings could be consistent with rape or another form of trauma but did not conclusively establish that rape had occurred.

The defense further questioned the DNA evidence presented by a forensic expert from Rwanda, arguing that the Liberia National Police had requested DNA comparisons involving clothing collected during the investigation but had not asked the forensic institute to determine whether sexual penetration had occurred.

The defense also argued that the prosecution failed to produce an orange vendor whom the alleged victim reportedly encountered near Camp Johnson Road and who allegedly warned him about the location.

Based on these issues, the defense invoked Sections 2.1 and 20.10 of Liberia’s Criminal Procedure Law, arguing that the prosecution’s evidence raised reasonable doubt and that Jallah was therefore entitled to an acquittal.

The prosecution, however, requested two days to file a written resistance, arguing that the defense had raised several issues requiring detailed response and that the motion could potentially terminate the proceedings. Judge Wesseh A. Wesseh granted the prosecution’s request and ordered that its written resistance be filed by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.

The trial has meanwhile been suspended pending the court’s ruling on the defense motion for judgment of acquittal. The case stems from allegations involving a 16-year-old boy who, according to the prosecution’s case, was sexually abused and allegedly taken to a location near Camp Johnson Road, where he was allegedly gang raped by Jallah and two unidentified men between January 1 and January 3, 2026. Jallah was arrested on January 7, 2026, after the boy’s mother filed a complaint on January 5, alleging that her son had been sexually abused, raped and kidnapped.

According to the prosecution’s account, the alleged victim and Jallah lived in the same Airfield, Sinkor, Sharks Community, where the teenager sometimes performed domestic chores for Jallah, including washing vehicles, sweeping the compound and cleaning the house.

The alleged victim reportedly told investigators that on January 1, after participating in a football match at the Kpelle Town Football Field, he encountered Jallah, who allegedly offered to buy him football boots. He said Jallah instructed him to return after taking a bath.

The teenager reportedly told investigators that after returning to Jallah’s residence, the two left in Jallah’s vehicle and traveled to an unidentified building in the Camp Johnson Road area, where he alleged that he was sexually assaulted by Jallah and two other men. He further alleged that he remained at the location until January 3, when Jallah allegedly transported him in a vehicle and abandoned him near 15th Street, Sinkor, Payne Avenue.

According to the account, several men, including private security officer Saygbeh M. Johnson and construction workers Sackie Tobby and Diamond Kpaka, found the teenager and assisted him in contacting his grandmother, Rebecca B. Tamba, and his mother, Sattarus, who subsequently took him to the JFK Medical Center.

The alleged victim also told investigators that, before the January incident, Jallah had allegedly sexually abused him on two separate occasions at Jallah’s residence in Airfield, Sinkor. He reportedly placed the first incident on November 29, 2025, in Jallah’s bedroom, and the second on December 24, 2025, in Jallah’s daughter’s room.

Jallah has denied the allegations. In an interview during the investigation, he reportedly denied ever having the alleged victim inside his compound or house and said he had not come into contact with him. The allegations remain subject to determination by the court, and Jallah is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in accordance with law.