Thirty-two months in jail for unlawful sex

Pleas for leniency, character witnesses, the nature of the act itself, nothing made any impression on the Roseau High Court when a 27-year old man of Roseau appeared before Justice Errol Thomas for sentencing for the offence of unlawful sexual intercourse on Friday January 29, 2016. He will spend 32 months at the Stockfarm Prison.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of the offence when he appeared for his trial without a lawyer on Wednesday January 13, 2016. Attorney Bernadette Lambert mitigated on behalf of the prisoner at the time of sentencing.

Director of Public Prosecutions Evelina Baptiste told the court that the victim then 14 years nine months old had come to the city from an eastern community to do some business including paying utility bills for her mother on Saturday May 14, 2012.

Along the way she met the accused who asked her to meet him at a bus stop. That she did and they went to his home in a suburb of Roseau. The man prepared a meal which they ate and then went to bed where the man had sexual intercourse with the girl. He gave the girl a shirt and underwear. The two had intercourse about 6:00am the following morning. They went to Roseau and went their separate ways. The accused went to Grand Bay for the weekend.

The girl however did not go to her home but went back to the accused home that evening. She gained access into the house by putting her hand in a hole behind the door and opened it. She remained in the prisoner's home until the following Tuesday. She arrived at her rural community home about 9:00am. Her mother took her to the police station where a report was made. The matter was investigated at the end of which the accused was charged with two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and two counts of indecent assault. The latter charges were withdrawn by the state at the time of the guilty pleas.