Tonight, 26-year-old Paul Jex Jr. is at the Belize Central Prison. That's after he was convicted of raping a woman in the presence of her one year old child - whom he held at gunpoint. The conviction was made based on DNA evidence.
The rape happened during a much reported on home invasion in the Belize District in December of 2015.
The victim, whose spouse was the caretaker of the property, testified that on the evening of December 3rd, 2015, she was at home with her common-law husband and her two children: a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old. They heard the dogs barking loudly outside, and he went to investigate. When he did not return, she went looking for him, and that's when she was attacked by seven men. Those assailants tied up her husband and beat him. They then escorted them at gunpoint into the garage area of the compound.
The burglars then broke into the living quarters of the primary residence, where they ransacked and looted the property for whatever valuables they could find.
1 of the men then took the caretaker's wife and one-year-old baby to a bedroom upstairs of the residence. He tried to force her to have sex with him, and when she refused, the gunman pointed his weapon at her 1-year-old baby and threatened to kill the child. She persisted in her refusal to consent to sex with him, and so he raped her in that room, in the presence of her baby.
The burglars searched the home for hours and held the caretaker, his distressed wife, and their children hostage the entire time until they finally left.
During the trial, the victim could not identify her rapist because he wore a shirt covering his face for most of the forced intercourse. But, the assailant made one miscalculation. He cleaned himself up after the rape using a towel that was left behind at the scene of the crime. Investigators were able to extract DNA evidence from the bodily fluids left behind on the towel, and it was sent to the US for analysis. During the trial, the prosecution called a forensic DNA analyst to testify against Paul Jex Jr. That expert told the court that according to her scientific tests and analysis, the sperm DNA on the used towel was an exact match to Jex's, which made her sure beyond reasonable doubt that he was the burglar who raped the victim.
Jex chose to remain silent, and today, after reading a 52-page judgment, Justice Sandcroft found him guilty of rape. He is now awaiting a sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for July 28th.
