Court orders jail time and sex therapy for man who raped 12-year-old

A MAN WHO was 22 years old when he had sexual intercourse with a minor aged 12, must serve a sentence of four years imprisonment for this crime, and enrol in a sexual therapy programme.

The sentence, which was handed down during the last High Court assizes, began on June 28.

The circumstances surrounding the 2017 offence, are that the 12-year-old knew Raheme Ross for about a month before the incident occurred. The then-baker received the preteen’s number from a mutual acquaintance, whose name never surfaced. Ross was living with his girlfriend at the time, but communicated with the child via WhatsApp messages and in person from time to time.

On the afternoon of April 15, they agreed to meet at a secluded area of a river, where the act occurred.

At some point the mother became concerned about her daughter and began looking for her. When the child came home at a late hour, the mother questioned her, and was told what had happened. The parent took her daughter to the police station.

When interviewed by the police, the baker apparently admitted certain things.

He was subsequently charged with the offence of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13.

The case moved through the court system before arriving before Justice Angelica Teelucksingh at the High Court. The defendant, who was represented by counsel Karl Williams, chose to enter a guilty plea. Submissions were made by Williams and crown counsel Maria Jackson-Richards.

Using the sentencing guidelines, a starting point of six years incarceration was considered appropriate in the circumstances.

The aggravating factors of the offences added three years to the sentence, but mitigating factors pulled the number down by one year.

The mitigating factors connected to the offender himself were considered, including that he had no previous convictions, and the sentence moved downwards once more by three years.

His guilty plea afforded him a one third subtraction to the sentence, therefore taking two years from six to arrive at a final sentence of four years imprisonment.

The offender was also ordered to enrol at “any sexual therapy programme being offered at the prison.”

He is to have access to 8mg of Aspirin, 12.5mg of Spironolactone, and an Omega 3 tablet every day, and is to be reassessed by a Cardiologist at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital( MCMH) in October.