Essequibo man to serve life imprisonment for child rape

A man who claimed that he was heavily intoxicated when he raped a child under 16 in 2015 was on Tuesday sentenced to life imprisonment by High Court Justice Jo-Ann Barlow, who termed his crime “the worst of the worst”.
The offender, David Alexander was 31 years old at the time he committed the offence. The girl, who was eight at the time, was left in his care on February 24, 2015 in the county of Essequibo.
Alexander, who entered a guilty plea upon presentation of the indictment by Prosecutor Abigail Gibbs, said he was very sorry for his actions and noted that he has been “suffering” on remand for the last three years. Justice Barlow, however, sentenced him to life, saying that she could see no mitigating factors as Alexander’s crime was among the worst the court has seen.
The Judge also ordered that he be exposed to counselling sessions and sessions

to assist with his alcoholism. Justice Barlow said too that Alexander’s excessive alcohol use was “no excuse” for committing such acts, as one should be able to control his or her faculties when imbibing. She further noted that the evidence in this particular case was overwhelming.
Alexander, through his attorney, Clyde Forde, said that he did not know what he was doing as he was drinking for most of the day in question. The court, however, considered that the girl needed surgery after the offender raped her. In the girl’s impact statement, read by counsellor Ira Ali, she said she felt hurt, sad and afraid of Alexander as she believed he was going to return and kill her.
“I felt frightened he would come back,” the now pre-teen girl said in her statement.
State Counsels Tiffini Lyken and Seeta Bishundial also appeared for the prosecution.