Accused child rapist Marvin Chesney walked out of the Berbice Assizes a freed man after his underage accuser opted not to testify at the trial.
Chesney had been indicted for the alleged sexual penetration of a nine-year-old child, committed on July 19th, 2016, in the County of Berbice.
He had pleaded not guilty. With the child no longer testifying, the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and Chesney was freed by Justice Sandil Kissoon.
The allegation against the man surfaced after the child and her siblings were found neglected at a village along East Bank Berbice.
Subsequently, she was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital and a charge of rape was instituted against the defendant.
The girl’s mother was also charged with three counts of child neglect. It was alleged that she willfully contributed to her children, ages 10, 7, and 5, being in the need of protective intervention.
Consequently, the mother of 13 was found guilty of the charges by Magistrate Alex Moore and she was fined $100,000 on each charge. As she was unable to raise the required $300,000 to the pay the fines, the woman was ordered to serve the alternative sentence of six months imprisonment. However, due to the intervention of President David Granger, who granted her a pardon, she was released early.
