A devout Christian accused of carrying out female genital mutilation on his own daughter has appeared in court.
The 49-year-old, who is of African descent, faces two charges under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 relating to one child and three counts of child cruelty relating to three of his other children.
He denied all the charges against him at a plea and trial preparation hearing at Woolwich Crown Court.
The defendant, from south London, is said to have committed FGM on one of his daughters between 2010 and 2013.
The child cruelty charges date from February 2009 and December 2016 for two of his children, and May 2011 and December 2016 for another.
FGM is illegal in the UK and it is also illegal to take a female abroad for the purposes of FGM. The maximum jail term for carrying out or enabling FGM is 14 years.
The man was granted conditional bail and will next appear at Woolwich Crown Court for a hearing on 21 December.
A provisional trial date has been set for 5 March.
Originally posted on Daily Mail:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5047799/Man-accused-female-genital-mutilation-appears-court.html