A jury yesterday found 40-year-old gold miner Sherwin Sharples guilty of raping an 11-year-old girl.
Justice Dawn Gregory, who presided over the trial, deferred sentencing to August 6th to facilitate the presentation of a probation report.
Sharples, who appeared distressed after hearing the verdict, was remanded to prison, pending his sentencing.
After about two hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a majority judgement of 11 to 1 in favour of the guilty verdict.
In mitigation, defence attorney Leslie Sobers submitted that his client has no antecedents and is known to be a “kind, loving and free-handed person.”
In a passionate plea for leniency, counsel begged the judge to “temper justice with mercy” when the sentence would be handed down.
The charge against Sharples stated that on June 10th, 2013, at Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration of an 11-year-old child.
Upon his indictment, the man had pleaded not guilty to the charge of rape of a child under 16 years. The trial was held in-camera.
