When the prosecution read out the details of how 24-year-old Bobby Joseph raped a teenaged student, those present were left with gaping jaws and raised eyebrows.{{more}}

Joseph, a labourer of Kingstown, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on Wednesday at the High Court at the Criminal Assizes. He was also slapped with another 20-year custodial sentence for causing actual bodily harm. Both sentences will run concurrently.

The court heard that on October 31 last year, at approximately 8 p.m., the young lady alighted from a van in New Montrose and began her sojourn home. While walking, she saw Joseph walking behind her, so she picked up her pace.

Moments later, as they turned a corner, the defendant pounced upon her. He then proceeded to pull her in some nearby bushes and told her to take off her underwear.

According to a statement read in court, the frightened teenager said Joseph punched her in the eye and took off her underwear. She said he got on top of her and unzipped his pants and started having sex with her.

She said that when a car passed, he told her not to scream. He then pulled her further into the bushes and placed her on a stone. He told her to open her legs and continued having his way. “He came on me and started wining, and then told me to sit on him,” the statement said.

The girl stated that Joseph told her he was not enjoying the act and got upset. At this point she said he got up and told her to perform oral sex on him. “He told me he wanted to feel my gum and not teeth.”

Joseph placed the girl in various positions to satisfy his needs. He even performed anal sex on the girl, which the girl said in her statement hurt her, but said he liked doing it. “He said we are going to stay here until we get it right.”

The young girl, however, managed to stab the defendant with a compass from her geometry set, and ran, but he caught her and threw her on the ground and stamped her in her face and stomach. She got up and ran again and sought refuge at a nearby house.

The horrific experience lasted for two hours. Presiding Judge, Frederick Bruce-Lyle, expressed his disgust at Joseph, referring to him as an animal. “You are not a human. It is people like you who make this country number three in the (Caribbean) for rape. We stand out like a sore thumb, and just now we might be called the rape capital of the world,” stressed the Judge.

Joseph was also convicted in 2000 for unlawful sexual intercourse with a teenager. He was sentenced to five years in jail then.