Colin Thomas, who on Tuesday pleaded guilty to two counts of raping a young girl, will spend the next 23 years in jail for the crime.
Thomas, 50, was sentenced by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Sexual Offences Court in Georgetown.
He pleaded guilty to first raping the child between August 1st and August 31st of 2013 and again committing the act between December 1st and December 31st of the very next year.
In imposing the sentence, the judge said she had considered the nature and gravity of the offence and the fact that Thomas, who should have been a protector to the child, instead violated her in the worst way possible.
The judge said she also considered that the young girl was of the tender age of six and eight when she was raped, and the impact the assault has had on the child and her family as indicated in a victim impact statement submitted to the court.
Justice Morris-Ramlall said, however, that she had also considered the mitigating circumstances of the case in that the convict had no antecedents and apologised to the now-teenager for what he had done to her.
After making deductions for mitigating factors, Justice Morris-Ramlall imposed a sentence of 20 years on the first count and 23 years on the second, which she ordered to be served concurrently.
On this first count, the convict has to serve 15 years before becoming eligible for parole, and 18 years on the second.
In addition, the judge ordered that he undergoes quarterly counselling sessions for three years of his sentence, commencing this October.
Thomas was represented by attorney Maxwell McKay, while the state’s case was presented by Prosecutor Sarah Martin.
