Child rapist requests CoA to reduce sentence

A convicted child rapist is back in court asking three Appeal Judges to reconsider his 25-year prison sentence. Earlier this year, Ivor Laud was found guilty by a jury on two counts of child rape.

Child rapist Ivor Laud

Between March 1 and 31, 2015, and August 1 and 31, 2017, in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration of a girl when she was just eight and 10 years old respectively.
While he is not challenging his conviction, Laud, through his Attorneys-at-Law Paul and Charlene Fung-a-Fat, is contending that the sentence is severe given the circumstances of the case.
He contended, too, that the sentence is “manifestly excessive” and that the trial Judge failed to consider any personal or mitigating factors.
Police had stated that between March 1 and 31, 2015, Laud invited the young girl over to his home under the pretext that he had something to give to her.
The girl reportedly followed him into the house, and they went into the bedroom, where he placed her to lie on a bed and pulled down her pants and underwear.
In her statement to the Police, the young girl detailed that Laud instructed her to hold his penis, and thereafter, raped her.
After committing the act, the girl said, she saw a whitish substance on his penis, and he then told her to go home and “wash up”, so she did. In August 2017, Laud raped her again and also performed oral sex on her.
Although he was found guilty, Laud has maintained his innocence. At a sentencing hearing, he had begged trial Judge Jo-Ann Barlow to have mercy on him, since he was the sole breadwinner for his family.
In sentencing Laud, Justice Barlow considered the aggravating and mitigating factors, the circumstances under which the offence was committed, and the victim’s impact statement.
According to Justice Barlow, the only mitigating factor the court found was the fact that Laud was a first-time offender. Among the aggravating factors, she took into consideration when determining an appropriate sentence was that Laud breached a position of trust since he knew the young girl since she was a toddler.
In the end, Justice Barlow sentenced Laud to 22 years in prison on the first rape charge, and 25 years on the second charge. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Further, the Judge ordered that Laud be made to undergo counselling for persons convicted of sexual offences.