Forty-one-year-old father of two, Colin Venture called “Dain,” who back in 2020 raped a 13-year-old girl on three separate occasions has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Two weeks ago, a 12-member jury unanimously convicted Venture on all three counts—on the first and second counts—of raping the child sometime between September 23rd and October 25th of 2020 and the third count on October 26th.
In her address to the convict, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall lamented the age of the survivor at the time which she described as “tender.”
In her stern reprimand, the Judge told Venture that as a mature adult, he ought to have known better; before going on to stress that not only did he violate the child in the worst possibly way, but also breached her parents’ trust in him.
“You preyed on their child and abused their trust,” she told Venture who in his address had said “I am very sorry for this whole situation wah occur. I apologize for everything.”
Of his remarks, however, to which she noted no weight would be attached, Justice Morris-Ramlall said she did not find Venture’s purported remorse to have been genuine.
“He expressed regret for this situation…whatever that means,” Justice Morris-Ramlall observed; stating that his attitude towards the offences was a far cry from the representations made by his attorney who in her mitigating address presented him as being “truly remorseful.”
His attorney, Alaira Murphy-Goodman, had said that her client had found himself in an “unfortunate situation,” and for which she begged the Court for leniency on his behalf.
The Judge said that not only was Venture not remorseful, but as the probation report indicated, he remained indifferent to his actions, thereby refusing to accept responsibility for what he had done.
The Judge said that in assessing the nature and circumstances of the case, she also considered the prevalence of sexual offences, the fact that there developed a pattern of the abuse, and the lasting impacts on the survivor.
An impassioned Prosecutor Cicelia Corbin in her address, asked the Court to view the convict’s address as a “last-minute attempt of sorry…only to garner a lesser sentence.”
She said that instead of valuing the trust the young girl’s family had in him, he instead began grooming her, until he eventually raped her, which started becoming a pattern of abuse within a month.
Highlighting what she said was an unprecedented rise in sex crimes, especially against children, Corbin called for a sentence which she said should be enough to deter potential offenders; even as she underscored the trauma with which the survivor has to live for the rest of her life.
In the impact statement of the now 15-year-old survivor which was read by Corbin, the court heard of the flashbacks from which the teen still suffers and detailed the blame she had ascribed to herself for what had happened to her.
She spoke of feeling as if she had disappointed not only herself, but more importantly her parents and sister.
The girl noted in her statement that she now, however, knows that it is her rapist with whom all the blame should lie.
The court heard that the teen continues to receive counselling which has been instrumental in her efforts to cope and thrive.
Referencing case law precedent, Justice Morris-Ramlall said that in all the circumstances of the case, she found terms of imprisonment of 15, 16 and 17 years for the first, second and third counts respectively, to have been appropriate.
She ordered that the sentences be served concurrently.
Noting, however, that the only mitigating factor she found was the convict’s previous unblemished record, the Judge made a one year deduction.
She further ordered that he undergoes quarterly counselling beginning next month until he completes his sentence.
Meanwhile, she said that the survivor’s counselling sessions are to continue with her therapists.
Venture was arraigned on charges of rape of a child under 16 years; the particulars of which stated that he sexually penetrated the teen on three occasions.
