Already serving a term of life imprisonment for the rape of a young child, Mark Campbell was handed yet another life sentence yesterday after confessing to a similar crime.
Campbell was sentenced by Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry after he pleaded guilty to a charge that he sexually penetrated a five-year-old boy on April 16th, 2013.
In handing down the sentence, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry explained that she took into consideration the seriousness and prevalence of the crime committed, while noting that the man used his position of trust to commit the horrendous act.
She also alluded to the physical, psychological and emotional trauma the child may now be dealing with.
As a result, the judge imposed a sentence of life imprisonment, with Campbell only becoming eligible for parole after serving 30 years.
Yesterday’s sentence follows another life sentence that was handed to him last October by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall, after he was found guilty of raping a young boy on two occasions.
In that case, the court had heard that that Campbell first engaged in sexual penetration of the boy during the month of September, 2011, when the boy was six-years-old. It also found that he raped the child on July 10th, 2013, when he was eight-years-old.
Campbell has also appeared before Justice Morris-Ramlall last February on two counts of sexually penetrating a three-year-old boy.
However, the jury, by a count of 11 to one, found Campbell not guilty of sexually penetrating the child. The panel of jurors were unable to come to a consensus on the second count, which alleged that he raped the same child two years later, on July 16th, 2013. They were reportedly deadlocked, with eight believing him to be guilty and four believing him to be not guilty.
