Four men, including three accused of raping children, were yesterday freed of the sexual offence charges against them after the state disclosed that the respective complainants could not be located over a number of years.
Last week, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall, who is presiding over the Sexual Offences Court at the High Court in Georgetown, had noted that after perusing the present list of cases for trials in the current session she observed that there were matters dating back as far as 1999. Consequently, she advised that matters with committal dates between 1999 and 2013 be presented for trial or disposal before revisiting the list. She pointed out that this was aimed at sanitising the list, which appears to include a number of dated matters.
The state subsequently advised the judge that of the 145 listed matters, 23 fell within the stated period. A report was given on each. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), it was revealed, had indicated that her office would not proceed with prosecution in nine of the matters. The jury was also directed to return a not guilty verdict against one man last week after the state reported that the complainant could not be located.
Yesterday, four men, Ken Bess, Kenneth Skeete, Dhanraj Baldeo and Joel Damon, appeared and the state reported that the complainants in each of their matters had consistently failed to appear over the years up to the present time, despite attempts to contact them via the media, while even police failed to locate them during visits to last known addresses.
The indictments were presented and in relation to each the state indicated that there was no evidence to offer and the judge directed the jury to return formal not guilty verdicts.
Bess was accused of raping a child under the age of 16 years. It was alleged that on March 25th, 2011, he engaged in sexual penetration of the child, who was 12 years at the time.
Skeete was accused of have carnal knowledge of a 15-year-old girl between August 1st and August 11th, 2006.
As it relates to Baldeo, who is called ‘Alvin,’ he was charged with indecently assaulting another male by way of buggery on March 15th 2010.
Meanwhile, Damon was accused of raping a child over several months. The first count stated that between January 1st and December 31st, 2003, he had carnal knowledge of the child then, between May 1st and May 31st 2003 he again raped he child. It was further alleged that between November 1st and November 30th, 2003 he again had carnal knowledge of the same child. Another alleged act of rape was committed between January 1st and December 31st, 2005.
It should be noted that while action is being discontinued in those cases in which the complainants have demonstrated no interest in pursuing the criminal complaints, those matters in which the accused cannot be located will remain before the court.
