Court sentences man who had sex with corpse

by Heather-Lynn Evanson 17.MAY.11

Probation, community service and counselling.
That is the punishment imposed on the man who sneaked into the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s (QEH) morgue, Barbados, placed himself on a shelf with a dead woman,{{more}} pulled aside her nightie and Pampers, and then had sex with her.

Peter Orlando Agard continued to write his name in Barbados’ history books on Thursday, May 12, by becoming not only the first man to be convicted of necrophilia, but to be sentenced for it.

He will perform 100 hours of community service – the location to be determined by a community service officer; will be on two years’ probation from Thursday, May 12; and will get psychological counselling as organized by the Probation Department.

The sentencing, by Justice Maureen Crane-Scott in the No. 5 Supreme Court, brought an end to the historic case which led off the last Sessions of the Continuous Sittings.

Agard, a former QEH porter, of Near Mangrove Land, St. Philip, was convicted of committing an act of a lewd, obscene and disgusting nature and outraging public decency by having sexual intercourse with the body of Donna Brathwaite on December 14, 2007.

The trial was initially prosecuted by Principal Crown Counsel Alliston Seale, but prosecutor Principal Crown Counsel Anthony Blackman appeared for the Crown on Thursday, May 12.

Agard was represented by Douglas Trotman.

Justice Crane-Scott said while the case was the first for the island, it was “not the first time such an act had occurred in the history of mankind.”

The judge added that while Agard continued to steadfastly maintain his innocence, his statements to police, which were allowed unchallenged into evidence, “amounted to an admission that you were accustomed to going into the morgue and dealing with the women in there.”

Justice Crane-Scott added that Agard’s written statement also contained admissions of dealing with the dead woman after sexual unfulfilment with two women earlier that night.

The judge also noted that the offence was a common law offence and therefore sentencing was at large.

She said, however, that under Section 11.3 of the Criminal Procedure Act she could imprison Agard for up to two years or give him a fine.

“In arriving at your sentencing, the court has borne in mind its judicial obligation under the Penal System Reform Act which states that imprisonment should be used as a last resort,” she said.

The judge added that she had formed the opinion that even though the offence was serious, “you posed no danger to society at large, and a custodial sentence is not necessary in this case to protect the public from harm.”

She said this decision came after senior consultant psychiatrist Dr.Ermine Belle had determined Agard had no psychiatric illnesses and Sean Pilgrim had said he did not appear to be suffering from any major psychological disorders.