An East Coast Demerara father was yesterday placed on $150,000 bail after denying charges that he ill-treated and caused bodily injuries to three of his five children.
Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul, who presided at the Better Hope Community Centre, heard that the 43-year-old man on January 17, wilfully ill-treated the three children, ages six, seven and eight years old, causing them injury.
The man, who is a father of two more children, pleaded not guilty to the charges that were read separately for each child by the magistrate.
Police Prosecutor Shevon Jupiter told the court that the man was left with the three children when his wife moved out with the other two. The apparent injuries were observed by the children’s teachers when they went to school, the prosecutor added. The Child Care and Protection Agency was subsequently alerted and an investigation uncovered that the man went home drunk the night before and whipped the children with a wire.
However, the man said he was not drunk and that he spanked the children because he went home to a disarranged house.
The prosecutor did not object to bail but asked that the man stay away from the children, who are now in the care of their mother.
The man was granted $50,000 bail on each of the three charges by Magistrate Ally-Seepaul, who also ordered him to make no contact with the children. His next court appearance is on March 31, when the matter will be called for report.
