Convicted child rapist Selwyn Lancaster was yesterday sentenced to spend the next 15 years in prison for his crimes by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall.
The 45-year-old man, who was found guilty earlier this month, was sentenced to 15 years for the rape of a child and seven years for sexual activity with a child. However, he will only serve 15 years since the judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
The judge also ordered that the man be exposed to quarterly counselling sessions during his time in prison, commencing from January of next year.
In arriving at the sentence, Justice Morris-Ramlall told the court that she considered the nature of the crime, the fact that the victim was just six-years-old and that also he betrayed the trust and respect of the victim and her mother. She said he committed the “atrocious act” while the mother was a few feet away and while engaging her in friendly conversation. “This speaks, in this court’s view, to the depravity of his mind,” the judge added.
The judge said she also considered the prevalence of sexual offences committed against children and added that Linden stands out in this regard with an “alarming number of sexual offences against children originating from that community.”
The judge also considered the victim impact statement of the child.
In that statement, the victim said that she feels bad whenever she sees the accused and she becomes angry. Further, when she thinks about the assault, she feels sad. “I feel sad because of what he did to me. I don’t trust people…I want Selwyn to go to jail because of what he did to me,” the victim said in her statement.
The plea of mitigation presented by the convict’s counsel was also considered by the judge but she said it must be viewed in the context of the failure of the convict to demonstrate remorse and the fact that he maintains innocence in the face of the jury’s guilty verdict. She pointed out that the probation report, which is largely unfavourable towards the convict, indicates predatory behaviour on his part and even though there was no evidence of a previous conviction it could not be ignored as it suggested that he is in need of some form of psychological intervention. She said the vile acts included penetration by the insertion of the penis into the victim’s mouth and putting his hand by her vagina outside of her underwear.
The probation report revealed that Lancaster was gainfully employed as a trainer in Information Technology. He grew up in a nuclear family and was allowed by his parents to build an addition to their home, where he lived. He supported his parents and was the sole provider for his mother before he was jailed as his father died four months ago. He maintained his innocence and claimed that the charge stemmed from a broken promise he made to the mother of the child.
The charges against Lancaster stated that on October 6th, 2018, he engaged in sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 years. A second charge stated that on November 6th, 2018, he engaged in sexual activity with a child by touching her vagina.
When asked if he had anything to say after the guilty verdict, Lancaster had said, “I really don’t have nothing to say.”
