Child rapist slapped with 47- year prison sentence

Ivor Laud was on Thursday slapped with a 25-year prison sentence after a jury found him guilty on two counts of rape committed on an underage girl. The man, in his late 30s, was on trial for the offence before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the High Court in Demerara.

Between March 1 and 31, 2015, and between August 1 and 31, 2017, in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration of the girl when she was just eight and 10 years old respectively.
The facts of the matter are that between March 1 and 31, 2015, Laud would invite the young girl over to his home under the pretence of having something to give to her.
The girl 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. It was reported that Laud then inserted his penis into the girl’s vagina.
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”, and so she did. In August 2017, Laud performed oral sex on the girl, after he called her over to his home.
At the time of the incidents, no one else was at his home. Laud also had a wife and children.
During a sentencing hearing on Thursday, State Counsel Sarah Martin asked the court to impose a sentence that would reflect the serious nature and prevalence of the offence. Prosecutor Martin also asked the court to consider the negative impact the situation has had on the victim’s life.
She also asked the court to take into consideration the fact that Laud had taken away the child’s innocence, and in return expressed no remorse, even after he was convicted.
For her part, Attorney-at-law Rachael Bakker, who represented the convict begged for leniency.

When given a chance to address the court, a crying Laud maintained that he was innocent. He, nevertheless, begged the trial judge to have mercy on him, since he is the sole breadwinner for his family.
In handing down her sentence, Justice Barlow weighed the aggravating and mitigating factors, the facts of the matter, and a victim impact statement.
The only mitigating factor the court found was the fact that Laud was a first-time offender. The aggravating factors including the manner in which the offences were committed, and the fact that Laud had breached a position of trust, since he knew the young girl since she was a toddler. The Judge also considered the prosecutor’s submissions.
In the end, Justice Barlow sentenced Laud to 22 years’ imprisonment on the first rape charge, and 25 years on the second one. The sentences are to be served concurrently. Further, the judge ordered that Laud be made to undergo counselling for persons convicted of sexual offences committed on children.