An Essequibo man was yesterday sentenced to 18 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of buggery at the Suddie High Court before Justice Roxanne George.
A 12-member jury found Clifford Benjamin, of Dredge Creek, Pomeroon, Essequibo, guilty of sodomising an eight-year-old boy on August 25, 2008.
After waiting on a probation report for two weeks, Justice George yesterday handed down the sentence to Benjamin.
The court was told that the child lived on a farm which Benjamin worked on. On the day of the incident, it was reported that the child left to pick oranges at the back of the farm and as he was walking there, Benjamin called him and guided him further away. The man then overpowered the minor and then committed the act.
When Benjamin was arrested, the court heard that he told officers that he was sorry for the crime he had committed.
Medical examinations performed on the child revealed that he was violated at the peri-anal and anal regions, which would suggest that something was inserted in his anus.
The state had called five witnesses, including the doctor, to testify in the matter.
