Accra: A trader has been brought before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly sexually exploiting and harboring a 17-year-old female for over one year. Cesar Victoire Tsala, 55, is accused of promising the victim a place on a football team but instead subjecting her to repeated sexual abuse.

According to Ghana News Agency, Tsala, a Cameroonian national, faces multiple charges including human trafficking, abduction of an unmarried female under the age of 18, and rape of a 17-year-old. The court session, presided over by Mrs. Evelyn Asamoah, was unable to proceed with taking Tsala's plea, as he requested it be conducted in French, his fluent language. Due to the absence of a French interpreter, the case has been adjourned to September 29, 2025, to arrange for an interpreter.

The allegations state that Tsala abducted the victim while she was preparing for her West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2024 from Spintex, Accra. Her whereabouts were unknown to her family for a year. On September 12, 2025, the victim, a Nigerian, managed to escape and reported that she had been forcibly taken to Kasoa and later to East Legon, where she was sexually abused by Tsala.

Tsala allegedly lured and abducted the victim with promises of protection, provision of basic necessities, French language lessons, and securing her a spot on a football team, none of which materialized.