A man accused of raping a young woman was on Monday afternoon freed after a jury acquitted him.
In a majority verdict of 10 to 2, the panel found Tevin Henry not guilty of sexually penetrating the young woman who was 18 years old at the time of the alleged assault.
The charge against the then 25-year-old electrician had been that on August 4th, 2019, in the County of Demerara, he sexually penetrated the teen without her consent.
The facts presented by the prosecution were that the virtual complainant (VC) had been chatting with a person through what turned out to be a fake Instagram profile.
That person the court heard, would later invite the teen to a pool party and had sent a car on the night in question to collect her from her home to take her to the party.
After boarding the car, however, the young woman testified that the driver of the vehicle instead took her to a secluded location aback the Mocha Arcadia access road, East Bank Demerara, where he raped her.
The young woman would later identify Henry as her alleged rapist.
His case, however, was that it was not him and that he was at home that entire night.
Following the return of the jury’s verdict, the former accused was then informed by Justice Priya Sewnraine-Beharry who presided over his trial that he was free to go.
The trial proceedings were held in camera at the Sexual Offences Court of the High Court. In Demerara
Henry was represented by defence attorney George Thomas.
The State’s case meanwhile, was led by Prosecutor Cicelia Corbin, in association with Caressa Henry and Paneeta Persaud.
