By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A 62-year-old man was seen smirking as he exited court on Friday after he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for molesting his granddaughter from May 2019 to January 2024.
The defendant, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the victim, was found guilty of 22 counts of incest and one count of indecent assault on October 30.
Throughout sentencing proceedings the convict had his head downcast and was frequently seen rocking back and forth.
The now 17-year-old girl described her ordeal as a “nightmare” when she testified that her grandfather molested her multiple times over five years.
The trial lasted over a week with 11 witnesses submitting testimony.
A nine-person jury returned guilty verdicts of 7-2 on all 23 counts of sexual abuse against the defendant.
The defendant engaged in unlawful sexual intercourse with his granddaughter on 22 occasions between May 1, 2019, and January 23, 2024, in New Providence. He is also accused of indecently assaulting her on January 24.
The victim, who was between the ages of 11 and 16 when the offences occurred, testified virtually. She said that her grandfather forced her into anal sex and made her perform oral sex on him repeatedly. She said she had lived with him and her younger siblings her entire life, but moved out in February when the abuse was revealed.
The complainant recounted an incident in May 2019. She said she was lying in her grandfather’s bed watching TV when he reached under the covers and touched her inappropriately. She claimed she just lay there as it happened, marking this as the first instance of abuse.
The complainant also said that she cried the first time her grandfather molested her anally and that he sometimes used Vaseline. She further indicated that in one instance she suffered a tear near her anus from the abuse.
The complainant admitted she once had a close relationship with her grandfather but began to resent him as the abuse continued. She described him as strict and frightening, claiming he often prevented her from going out and was violent, hitting her with objects like rakes and hammers.
She testified that her grandfather touched her hip more than ten times over the years and forced her to perform oral sex frequently. She further alleged the anal assaults began in mid-2019 and continued until late 2023, happening every other week until 2022, when she briefly ran away.
The complainant expressed frustration at herself for not speaking out sooner and said she tried to avoid engaging with the defendant. The complainant said that it was only through the encouragement of a close female friend that she finally came forward to her mother with the years of sexual abuse she faced living under the defendant’s roof.
The victim told her mother she’d been abused since she was 12 years old. Upon her mother learning of the sexual assaults the child was immediately moved from the convict’s custody to live with another relative.
Justice Thompson said that the convict’s behavior was inappropriate and unacceptable. She said that he had violated the victim’s innocence and sought to corrupt her.
The Justice noted that the abuse took place while the convict had a live-in girlfriend at his home.
Justice Thompson added that the victim was traumatized by these events and noted how the complainant testified that she’d sworn off having sex with men in the future.
Justice Thompson scolded the convict saying that he caused a tear in the victim’s anus until she bled and that the anal abuse may lead to health complications in her future.
She further expressed that the convict breached the complainant’s trust and showed an utter lack of remorse following his conviction.
Justice Thompson said that the defendant appeared open anger during his conviction and that he had turned the victim’s home into a house of horrors.
After calling the convict’s actions inappropriate, Justice Thompson said: “You are an adult. You knew better. You should have acted better."
Prosecutor Rashied Edgecombe recommended that the defendant serve a 25 to 30-year sentence for the Incest charges.
Conversely, Sonia Timothy Knowles, the defendant’s attorney, asked that her client only be sentenced to nine years in prison given his previously clean record up to this point.
Justice Thompson remarked that she wanted her sentence to send a strong message to society to deter similar crimes. She also noted the increased prevalence of sex crimes.
The convict was sentenced to 35 years at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for the Incest charges. He also faced a five-year sentence for the indecent assault to be served concurrently from the date of his conviction.
After stating his intention to appeal his sentence, the convict was seen smirking as he was escorted from court.
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