Mocha resident to stand trial in High Court for rape

Forty-seven-year-old Jegede Hodge of Plantation Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara, was on Tuesday committed to stand trial in the High Court for a rape committed on a then 14-year-old girl back in 2017.
Hodge appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday and was handed down the judgement by Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman in the form of a paper committal during the matter which was held in-camera.
Initially, he was not required to plead to the indictable charge, which alleged that between September 1 and 30, 2017, while at Plantation Mocha EBD, he engaged in sexual penetration with the child, who was under the age of consent. The prosecution had contended that, on the day in question, the child was left in Hodge’s care.
However, Hodge was granted bail in the sum of $300,000 when he made his first court appearance. The matter was prosecuted by Inspector Shellon Daniels.