Uncle jailed for sexually abusing 12-year-old niece

An uncle has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for sexually abusing his 12-year-old niece, as a High Court judge stressed that cognitive impairment does not excuse such offences and that the courts must send a strong deterrent message.

Acknowledging his cognitive impairments and psychological challenges, Justice Donna Babb-Agard informed the man who admitted to having sexual intercourse with the minor between September 1 and 30, 2020, knowing that she is his niece by blood relationship, that he was left with eight years and 307 days more to spend at Dodds after discounts for his guilty plea, mitigating factors and time on remand were taken into account.  

“This psychological assessment indicates that at the time of your evaluation you seem completely unaware of the seriousness of your actions, and this particular feature in the case has taken it out of what would ordinarily be a particularly long period of imprisonment, and the court has to take this into consideration.

“This court must emphasize that your psychological issues, while relevant and serious, do not excuse your conduct. At best, they slightly reduce moral culpability and indicate the need for treatment, but they cannot outweigh the need for punishment and the protection of the complainant and the public from you.

  “This court has a strong unequivocal duty to send a message through you to the public involving the sexual abuse of minors, particularly within a family setting, and this court will therefore have to consider a lengthy custodial sentence for the purposes of deterrence, public protection, and denunciation of your conduct.” 

During the sentencing hearing in the No. 4A Supreme Court, the judge highlighted the findings of the pre-sentence and psychological reports of the now 42-year-old convicted man, including that he was found to be cognitively impaired, was unable to read and write or understand complex questions and that, while he knew that he had done something wrong, he could not understand the concept of incest.  

But she stressed this could not outweigh the need for punishment in the case, stressing the life-altering impact on the child, who became pregnant from the sexual assault, suffered from anger, self blame, depression and who was blamed by some family members for the assault and ridiculed at school by her peers.  

The judge said: “This is an offense of utmost gravity. Your niece was a child, barely 12 years old. She was vulnerable and dependent, and entitled to expect protection within her own family unit. You took advantage of her in circumstances where you frequently visited your sister’s home, at which your niece slept, and had unprotected sexual intercourse with her between the days in question… Your actions were deeply and irreversibly harmful, in that your sexual assault of your minor niece resulted in her getting pregnant and the birth of a child. You have caused the complainant profound physical, emotion, emotional, and psychological trauma, which will have both immediate and lifelong consequences for both of you.”

Principal State Counsel Joyann Catwell prosecuted the matter while defence counsel Rita Evans represented the convicted man.

(JB)