A man who raped his girlfriend’s seven-year-old daughter and committed an act of serious indecency on her should be given a jail sentence in the region of 20 years in prison, says Acting Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Krystal Delaney.
But the convicted man’s attorney Lalu Hanuman has urged the High Court not to go over the threshold of 15 years in jail in sentencing his client.
The prosecutor and defense lawyer were addressing Madam Justice Pamela Beckles on Wednesday in the case of the step-father who was recently convicted of the offences by a jury in the No. 5 Supreme Court.
The offences were committed between May 1 and June 30, 2013 when he was in his late 30s.
Delaney submitted to the court that the custodial sentence for such offences had been exceeded as she pointed out the aggravating features of the stepfather’s crimes.
She said the convict had breached the position of trust that had been placed in him as he was the boyfriend of the child’s mother.
The impact that the man’s action has had on the child, the acting DPP said, was also aggravating as the complainant stated in the victim impact statement that since that time she had experienced among other things panic attacks, nightmares, engaged in self-harming behaviour, missed school and was still seeing a psychologist.
“The difference in age between the virtual complainant and the convicted man – the virtual complainant was a mere seven years old and the convicted man would have been in his 30s at the time,” Delaney stated as she continued to point to the aggravating nature of the offences.
“The starting point in this case should be in the region of 20 years.
“This court . . . would know that these sorts of offences against children are very prevalent in this jurisdiction. It is my submission that a starting point in this region . . . would reflect the need for both specific and general deterrence. It would also reflect the public’s abhorrence of this sort of offence. A sentence in that region would maintain public confidence in the judicial system,” Delaney submitted.
But in his submissions Hanuman urged the court “not to go beyond 15 years . . . given the threshold I don’t think there is grounds for that”.
He however made it clear that the case was a “very serious” one as the “rape of a child is . . . horrendous, unacceptable and despicable”.
“I in no way seek to defend or mitigate such actions Ma’am.”
Hanuman added: “The jury has made their decision and they found the accused guilty. So in law he is guilty but as an aside I wish to add we have already filed an appeal against the conviction [on the grounds that] it is unsafe and unsatisfactory, so there is an appeal pending on that.”
“But as it stands I make no attempts to mitigate the findings of the jury in terms of the sentencing aspect . . .”
The defense attorney however requested that a psychological report be compiled on his client to which the judge agreed.
The convicted man, who is on remand, is to appear before the court on November 9 and 16. He is expected to be sentenced on the latter date.
