A young man who raped his seven-year-old cousin when he himself was a minor of 14 years old, now awaits sentencing after being found guilty of the offence by a jury yesterday afternoon.
The now almost 20-year-old convict will be sentenced on March 12th following his attorney’s request for a probation report to be prepared.
On that day, a victim impact statement is also to be read to the court.
After about two hours of deliberations, the 12-member panel returned its unanimous verdict, finding the young man guilty of both counts of rape of a child under 16 years.
Particulars of the offence state that between December 1st and 24th of 2015, he sexually penetrated the younger child.
The assault occurred twice during this period.
In accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act 2018, the identity of an individual who would have committed an offence while a minor, ought not to be published, since the person, although now an adult, was a juvenile at the time the offence was committed.
Part IX, Section 100 (1) of the Act states that “a person shall not publish the name or any information related to a child or juvenile, if it would identify the child or juvenile as having been dealt with under this Act.”
In addition, Section 42, which deals with sentences states, “Where a juvenile is found guilty of an offence under any law, the finding of guilt shall not be recorded as a conviction.”
It is noteworthy that once the individual was a juvenile at the time the offence was committed, the protection of the law against publishing their identity remains intact, even if at the time of passing sentence that person may have since become an adult.
The trial proceedings were held in-camera before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Sexual Offences Court of the Georgetown Supreme Court.
The convict was represented by attorney Folio Richards.
The state’s case meanwhile, was led by Prosecutor Teriq Mohammed, in association with state attorneys Mandel Moore and Tyra Bakka.
