A State lawyer, Mike Mudara (34), has been slapped with an 18-year jail term following conviction for raping his friend's four year old daughter.

Mudara was employed by the Justice ministry and was stationed at Gokwe magistrate court.

According to a statement by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), on the day he committed the crime, Mudara took the girl to his house after the father had been involved in a physical fight with a unnamed man, on pretext of protecting her from harm.

It was proved that upon arrival at his house, he instructed the toddler to lie down on the sofa.

He then raped her, telling her that he was "applying medicine on her, before threatening to beat her if she reported the matter."

The crime was revealed when the infant was seen scratching her private parts and asked why she was doing so.

She then narrated the ordeal to her aunt, who reported the matter.

In sentencing him, court considered that he had acted contrary to what is expected of him as a law officer, hence the stiff penalty.