A teen was on Tuesday jailed for six and a half years after he admitted to raping a 10-year-old girl in 2015.
The 19-year-old boy appeared before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Demerara High Court where he pleaded guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a 10-year-old girl. The court heard that on August 21, 2015, the teenager asked the young girl to follow him to the shop. But instead, he took her to an abandoned house where he threatened to kill her two-year-old brother if she did not have sex with him. The court also heard that again on February 16, 2016, the young girl followed him to deliver a cake to someone. But he took her to a latrine toilet and threatened to kill her if she did not have sex with him. She complied but later related the incidents to relatives. The prosecution’s case was presented by State Counsel Teriq Mohamed while attorney Maxwell Mckay presented on behalf of the teenager. On the first count, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and on the second count to three years and six months. The sentences are to be served concurrently. Justice Barlow deducted three months from the teen’s sentence for not wasting the court’s time by entering a guilty plea. Under the Juvenile Offenders Act, the maximum penalty that can be imposed for such offences is five years’ imprisonment for each charge.
She also ordered that the teen undergo counselling while in prison. Additionally, he was ordered to enrol in the skills training programme while in prison. Failure to undertake the programme will result in him serving an additional year in prison.
