Three years ago a seven-year-old girl accused twenty-one year old security guard Mark Anthony Copius of raping her, but around four thirty yesterday a jury of five men and four women found him not guilty of the crime. How did it happen? Well the ruling was certainly not an easy decision for the jury which had initially reached a deadlock after two hours of deliberation. After their second round of deliberations, the forelady announced that they had still not reached a unanimous decision with seven in favor of the accused and two against.
The victim, now ten years old, gave emotional testimony in court saying that sometime between November first and thirty first of 2004 locked her in a bedroom and forced her to have sex. The girl told the court that after she threatened to tell her mother what had happened, he bribed her by saying he would give her a bar of chocolate. Two years later, the matter was reported to police and Copius was then charged with one count of carnal knowledge.
In addressing the jurors, Copius asked: "do you believe the evidence brought against me in this court today and do I look like the kind of man who would have sex with a child?" Following his not guilty verdict Mark Anthony Copius walked out of the courtroom smiling and hugging his common law wife and aunt who were both waiting outside to take him home.
