A young Rupununi farmer was remanded to prison yesterday after he was charged with raping an 11-year-old schoolgirl.
Vladimir Lawrence, 20, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court One, where the charge was read to him.
The charge states that between December 4th and December 6th, 2019, at Yupukari Village, North Rupununi, Lawrence engaged in sexual activity with a child under the age of 16.
He was not required to plead to the indictable charge.
The prosecutor objected to bail being granted, citing the prevalence of the offence and the penalty it attracts.
Lawrence was subsequently remanded to prison until December 17th, when he is to appear at the Lethem Magistrate’s Court.
Police allege that the man propositioned the child after encountering her as she was riding home from school. The child refused and it was then that Lawrence allegedly attacked her.
After allegedly committing the act, he is alleged to have ordered her back on her bicycle and began accompanying her home. However, when the child’s father saw the two of them on the bicycle, he questioned his daughter, who told him what happened. He subsequently made a report to Lethem Police Station and Lawrence was arrested.
