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‘You destroyed my family’: Abuse victim, father, mother seek tough sentence for predator pastor

by Jenique Belgrave
3 min read
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The father of a woman indecently assaulted by a pastor more than a decade ago made an impassioned plea to the High Court, calling for a sentence that sends a strong message to other predators.

 

Gospel singer and Reverend Vincent Anthony Lowe, 71, of Mount Standfast, St James, was convicted in March of four counts of indecent assault against a teenage female church member. The offences occurred between January 1, 2011, and March 8, 2013.

 

On Friday, the complainant and her parents appeared in the No. 4 Supreme Court before Madam Justice Laurie-Anne Smith-Bovell to speak about how their lives have been impacted by what Reverend Lowe had done.

 

In her impact statement, the woman who was 15 at the time and is now in her 30s, told Lowe, “You have caused me nothing but pain and suffering. You are the reason I was not able to complete my studies. You are the reason I cannot trust any pastor because you have done nothing but change my mind from them. You are the reason why I have spent most of my life angry and frightened.”

 

Saying that she had forgiven Lowe to be at peace, she added, “You really have to change because you have done nothing but destroy my family.”

 

Her father, adamant that the offender should face the full weight of the law, spoke about how he and his family had changed.

 

“Nothing that I have ever been through in my entire life has ever affected me like this. I am asking that the court send a message to predators such as this criminal. I am asking the court to do that because our children have the right to be protected from them,” the complainant’s father said from the witness stand.

 

He described how his daughter, who was now in her 30s, had been so profoundly affected by what had occurred that she could not sleep at night unless her mother stayed by her side.

 

“For 15 years, I have been sleeping in a bed by myself. He stole my daughter’s youth. He stole her innocence. He took her dignity, and because my wife and I did not want him to take her sanity, we had to agree that she would sleep with our daughter every single night,” he said.

 

Telling the court that he had received several calls from pastors requesting that he not go to the police with the matter, the father expressed hope that justice would be served.

 

“I am hoping that this court sends a clear message to him, and to pastors that have called me asking me not to take this to the police. I am asking the court to let people know this is not the way that things are done in Barbados. We have something called law and order, and I am so grateful that the system has worked today. I am asking the court to send the strongest possible message to you, Tony Lowe,” the father stated, expressing hopes that the convicted man would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

 

Holding back tears, the mother described the actions of Lowe — someone her family had trusted — as “pure evil”, revealing that in the past 15 years, her daughter had suffered breakdowns, anxiety, and a lack of trust in people.

 

Noting that she also had a fear of going places alone, she said that her daughter would often call her at work in a panic, and she would have to calm her down.

 

She said her son had also been impacted and had started failing his classes because of what his sister had suffered.

 

“(Lowe) needs to get what he deserves,” the mother insisted.

 

Lowe returns on June 5, when sentencing submissions will be made from his attorney, Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens and prosecutor Principal State Counsel Olivia Davis.

 

 

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