He paid a 15 year old girl a dollar and 50 cents for sex and now 41 year old Leroy Stevens will pay the ultimate price, his freedom. That is because a jury this evening convicted Stevens of carnal knowledge. The 41 year old was charged for the incident which occurred in December of 2006 when the 15 year old was still enrolled in primary school. Stevens was arrested in January of 2007 after the minor wrote about the incident in a letter to the supervisor at the shelter she was living in.
The girl who is now 17 year old testified that on the day of the incident, she visited a home in Hattieville where she met Stevens who propositioned her for sex. She agreed and after he was done, Stevens paid her a dollar and 50 cents.
Stevens was undefended and remained silent. He did however tell jurors that he is happily married with two daughters and that he was once a Christian. He said he couldn’t do what he was accused of. He asked the jurors to judge him with an open mind. Deliberations began at 2:57 and the jurors came out at 4:41 with a verdict. It was not unanimous and so they were returned for further deliberations. 34 minutes later they returned with a unanimous verdict of guilty.
Justice Adolph Lucas will sentence Stevens on Monday November 17th. He faces a minimum of 12 years in jail and a maximum of life. He was prosecuted by Nadine Palacio.
