Last night on 7NEWS a mother recounted the disturbing details of the rape of her 9 year old daughter allegedly at the hands of her neighbors 33 year old Wilfred Gillett and his 34 year old common-law wife Beverly Brown Simpson. Gillett was yesterday arraigned on six counts of rape and six counts of unlawful carnal knowledge. Brown Simpson was charged with six counts of abetment to commit rape. It's an awful story, but the kind that continues to be told as the community wrestles with a disturbing upsurge in the number of reports of outrageous sexual offences. Tonight we'll give you a look deeper into the circumstances surrounding the lives of the accused Beverly Brown-Simpson and Wilfred Gillett.
Keith Swift Reporting,
On Friday April 21st Beverly Brown-Simpson came to seven news complaining that her in-laws were trying to throw her off this land and out of this house in the Jane Usher Boulevard area that she and her family called home.
Beverly Brown-Simpson,
[April 21st 2006] "They came to throw out three load of sand in here. The first load was over there and two on this side here. Then they said they will bruk down the house by end of the month and if I don't break it down by then she will come and do it herself."
On April 28th, 7 days later, it is this same house that this mother, whose name or face or face we can't show, says her 9 year old daughter was lured into by Beverly Brown-Simpson. What allegedly happened next between Brown Simpson, her common-law husband Wilfred Gillett, and the girl is disturbing to say the least.
Mother of Victim,
"The stepmother came to my house, asked me to let my children go from my house to their house to play with their little daughter and upon my daughter reaching there they got rid of the younger little girl by sending her outside. They took my daughter into the room, the woman held down my daughter with her two hands, and the gentleman sexually molested my daughter. To my daughter's knowledge, they duct taped her mouth, literally duct taped her mouth and they proceeded to rape her.
The same day that it happened, my little son wondered why they put his sister inside the room and chased him outside so he got worried. So he went inside and lifted the curtain and when he lifted it up, he saw the man sexing his sister."
This mother says she feel betrayed by Brown-Simpson who was her neighbor, her friend, and mostly a mother also.
Mother of Victim,
"It is a mother like myself. A mother like myself came for my children. That is why I trusted her. I always told my daughter that if someone molests her, to tell me because her father already died and I am the only one for her. Well she told me that the man threatened her with a knife to slash her throat, to cut her throat if she talks. That is what frightened my daughter."
Betrayal is one thing but residents in the area say the absence of streetlights may have created the perfect conditions for these accused child predators.
Mother of Victim,
"The neighborhood that I live in is dark behind Jane Usher Boulevard, its very dark behind the basketball court and I begging to BEL to put some lampposts. I think its more important to protect children, to protect children than to leave the place without light."
Keith Swift,
So at night back here is completely dark.
Mother of Victim,
"Its completely dark. I tell you that if you are a stranger around here you would be scared because you will wonder where you will go because it's completely dark. I would just want to appeal to the justice system to be fair and to protect our little children because a mother herself cannot do such thing, the society should look out for the children."
Both Gillett and Brown-Simpson were denied bail and are tonight under remand in jail. Their next court appearance is July 16th.
