The National Commission for Families and Children is outraged at what they refer to as an unduly lenient sentence issued by a Supreme Court judge upon a man who was convicted of raping a 9-year-old girl twice - in 2015 and again in 2017.
24-year-old Edwin Lanza pleaded guilty to both charges when he appeared before Justice Ricardo O'Neil Sandcroft last week. Sandcroft handed down a three year suspended sentence - this means that Lanza will not actually be imprisoned. However, he is currently behind bars for another offense, so the suspended sentence will not commence until he is released, which is expected to happen in February 2023. When he is released, he is ordered to seek counseling from the Department of Youth Services.
In the courtroom, Sandcroft told Lanza that it must be taken into consideration that he was still regarded as a child when he first committed the offense, since he was 17-years-old at the time.
However, according to NCFC's press release, they believe that, quote, "A more severe punishment reflecting society's absolute disapprobation of such a heinous crime was called for and for which the law provides. We therefore stand with all right-thinking members of our society in decrying this sentence, and we call on the relevant authorities to take all steps necessary to address this injustice." End quote.
