A 26-year-old man who became friends with a child on social media then had sexual intercourse with her on two different occasions will spend nearly four years in prison contemplating his transgression.

The sex offender, Junior Richardson, a resident of Mesopotamia, was sentenced to prison for three years, nine months and 18 days after time spent on remand was deducted from his four year sentence.

He appeared in High Court #2 on March 22 for sentencing after entertaining lurid sexual conversations with a 11-year-old student and housing her at his home where they engaged in sexual intercourse.

The prisoner pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 on July 19 and 20, 2021.

According to a summary of the facts, the victim and the prisoner became friends on Instagram. They communicated daily and engaged in explicit conversations of a sexual nature. The prisoner explained to the child that he was interested in meeting her and they both made arrangements to meet after she left school the next day. After they met, they proceeded to the bus stop located near the Peace Memorial Hall and they travelled together.

The victim got off at her regular place of exit and the prisoner remained in the van. This became a routine for them.

On July 16, 2021 after making arrangements to meet with Richardson on July 19, and spend a week at his home, the 11 year old packed her bag with books and clothing and around 2:30 p.m they travelled to his home.

When they arrived at the home Richardson pointed to a room and instructed her to change her clothes; she donned a short, blue dress. The man then lifted her and carried her to another bedroom where they had sexual intercourse.

Her parents went to the area where they usually met her after school and they waited until 7:30 p.m but the girl did not appear and a report was made to the police which resulted in a missing person’s report being issued.

Later that same evening, the victim and the prisoner went to another house and a man who identified himself showed her a post on the iWitness News Facebook page indicating that she was missing.This person told her to return home but the girl went back to Richardson’s home where she spent the night.

Early the next morning Richardson told the child that he needed some “good morning sex “ before she returned home and they engaged in sexual intercourse.

There was a knock on the door and Richardson sent the child to bathe, then he responded to the knock.

It was his mother who told him that the child has to leave her home.

The child packed her things and the prisoner accompanied her to seek transportation. A resident observed them and ventured to take pictures, but Richardson hid himself.

The police later met the girl on the Mesopotamia main road and took her into custody.

An investigation was launched; Richardson was met at his home and taken into custody, and while under caution he admitted, “yes officer me sex she.”

Before handing down the sentence, High Court Judge, Angelica Teelucksingh said that based on the facts surrounding the case, the consequences placed it into category three, while the seriousness fell into the highest category.

She told the court that in the social inquiry report, the victim’s mother indicated that she still has to monitor the child’s phone as she is still speaking to older men, sending photos of her body and telling them that she is horny and she wants to have sex.

While the judge noted that the court was not of the opinion that the child was lying in her victim impact statement, she said that the court agrees that in certain aspects the victim may have exaggerated when she said that she was robbed of her innocence.

Teelucksingh noted that there was significant planning by the parties, which may have included grooming, and incitement. She added that the child willingly participated in phone conversations of an explicit nature and they discussed their favourite sexual positions even before they engaged in sexual intercourse.

The judge also noted that the defence counsel highlighted that the victim was sexually active even before she had sexual intercourse with Richardson. She said that while it is unfortunate, it can be misleading that the victim said she was robbed of her innocence.

Teelucksingh made it clear that blame is not being laid on the victim but she agreed with the prosecutor that there is a need for phycological intervention and continued counselling for the girl.

She further said that while there was some harm that was caused to the child they were not so extreme as to place the offence into category one or two in terms of the consequences.
The judge started at six years in prison.

She found aggravating of the offence that there was ejaculation, and the prevalence of the offences. Mitigating was that no violence was used, nor were there signs of physical trauma. The aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors and two years were added.

There were no aggravating factors of the offender, and mitigating for him was that the court considered his genuine remorse and that he is a good candidate for rehabilitation.

An affidavit of a former work colleague who provided information about the prisoner was also taken into account.

This resulted in a two-year deduction from the sentence. Richardson had pled guilty and this resulted in a further two year deduction from his sentence.

Time spend on remand was also deducted from the sentence. The prisoner will therefore spend three years, nine months and 18 days in prison on both counts. It was also ordered that he be enrolled in the psychotherapy programme at prison.

Richardson was represented by counsel, Patina Knights, while the Crown was represented by Counsel, Maria Jackson- Richards.

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