He was a community leader, a former alcalde in Medina Bank, but tonight Rafael Cal is disgraced, convicted of a dastardly misdeed against his own daughter. A jury of 6 men and three women took less than an hour to find him guilty of two counts of incest.
In November of 2004 his then 12 year old daughter accused Cal of molesting her in the family home in June and July of 2004. At the time, she and her mother told police that they had been afraid to make the report.
The trial started in the southern session of the Supreme Court in Dangriga town last week Tuesday before Madam Justice Michelle Arana. The prosecutor was Tracy Sosa, in her first case as a crown counsel, and Cal was defended by Leo Bradley Jr. Both mother and daughter, now 14, gave testimony against Cal. The mother told the jury that she caught him in the act on the second occasion.
Cal testified in this own defense and said that the child had made up the story because he had beaten her for having lewd drawings in her school notebook. As for the mother, he claims she was spiting him because she claimed he had another woman. But the jury unanimously believed the mother and daughter and found him guilty on both counts.
After hearing mitigation pleas from Cal's mother and father, who described the extensive community leadership work he'd done, Justice Arana sentenced him to 4 years for each count with the sentences to run consecutively, meaning he will serve 8 years in prison. The maximum sentence for one count is 7 years.
