A Canadian woman said it was rape but 29 year old Jimmy Jerry Espat said it was consensual sex on his grandmother’s grave. But after 3 hours of deliberation this afternoon - seven out of nine jurors voted to convict the former bartender of rape.
It happened on April 1st of 2007 in Cayo. His Canadian victim was visiting Belize at the time. They met in a bar and the Canadian woman claims that Espat took her on a walk in the cemetery to show her his grandmother’s grave. She testified in court that when they arrived in the cemetery - he grabbed her, threw her to the ground, and then raped her.
Espat was undefended but in his defense he told the court he did have sexual relations with the Canadian woman. He however maintained that the relations were consensual. In fact he says the woman told him that she wanted to have rough sex with a black man.
Testimony from a doctor noted that there were bruises and scratches on the victim. Jimmy Jerry Espat will be sentenced on March 6th. His victim left the country after testifying.
