Liberian Court Hears Testimony in NSA Agent Sexual Assault Case

MONROVIA — A 16-year-old boy testified that National Security Agency agent Peter Bon Jallah sexually assaulted him three times between late November and New Year's Day, and the court admitted his four-page police statement into evidence over defense objection. The testimony placed the first two alleged assaults at Jallah's residence on Nov. 29 and Dec. 24, 2025, and the third on Jan. 1, 2026, in a four-story building on Camp Johnson Road, where the witness said Jallah was accompanied by two other men. The witness, who told the court he is a student and that he knew Jallah, gave explicit testimony about the alleged acts. Because he is a minor, this report does not reproduce those details. He testified that on New Year's Day he was playing football when Jallah approached him and asked why he had not told him to buy football boots for him. Jallah instructed him to meet after the game and to freshen up first, the witness said. The two later left the area, stopped to buy gasoline and drove to Camp Johnson Road, where he said Jallah told him to wait in the vehicle. After some time he got out and approached a woman selling oranges, the witness said. He testified that the woman warned him the place where his "uncle" had gone was not a good one. He said he returned to the vehicle, that Jallah came back and drove to another location, and that he was eventually taken to 15th Street, opposite NASSCORP, removed from the vehicle and left beside the road. Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines The witness said he began calling for help and that a security officer carrying a light found him, but had difficulty communicating with him at first because he was unable to speak. The officer obtained his grandmother's telephone number and contacted his family, he testified, and relatives took him to John F. Kennedy Medical Center. He said he spent several days at the hospital before being taken to a one-stop center, where police and medical personnel questioned him and recorded his account. Prosecutors then presented the statement taken from him during the police investigation. The witness identified the document and confirmed the signature on it was his. Defense counsel objected to the admission and marking of portions of it, arguing among other things that the questionnaire attached to the statement had not been separately identified and testified to by the witness. The court overruled the objection, ruling that the questionnaire formed part of the victim's recorded statement, and the four-page document was marked P/1 in bulk and admitted. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later. On the December incident, the witness testified that while he was playing football, another person identified as Lasanna called him and said "papay" wanted him to come for food. He said he went to Jallah's house, was given money to buy plantain, and that after he returned with the food and went back to Jallah's room to give him the change, Jallah attacked him. He described an assault involving restraint and said he then left the residence and returned toward the football field. Asked whether he had told anyone about the November and December incidents, the witness said he told no one about the December incident. On the November incident, he said Jallah warned him not to tell anyone, which he said made him afraid. Defense counsel objected repeatedly through the testimony, including to the form of questions and to whether certain evidence had already been testified to. The court sustained some objections and overruled others, and defense counsel took exception to several of the rulings. Jallah is presumed innocent unless the prosecution proves the charges against him beyond a reasonab