A jury this afternoon acquitted a 28 year old man of raping an 11 year old. The girl, who is now 14, testified that between 4:15 and 4:45 am on September 2nd of 2007 she was asleep in her bedroom in San Pedro Town when the man grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into her mother’s bedroom. She says he then raped her at knifepoint. The girl’s mother told the court that she came home and caught him in the act with her daughter.
So with all that – plus the fact that the accused defended himself and went up against two crown counsels, why didn’t this case end up in a conviction? That’s what a number of court observers were asking, especially after the accused gave a statement from the dock in which he didn’t deny or admit to the charge – stating only that he was drinking with the girl’s mother at a park and went to get more beer. When he returned, she was gone, and he went to the mother’s house where he found her talking with a male friend who he got into a fight with. Notably, he said nothing in that statement about the child. But not even his non-denial was enough to convince the jury of 5 women and 4 men who deliberated for three hours before returning the not guilty verdict on the single charge of unlawful carnal knowledge.
The accused was freed from the carnal knowledge charge but not free to go since he has a three month sentence to serve for $755 in maintenance owed to the Family Court. That is in addition to another 7 month sentence for a conviction of grievous harm.
