A 32-YEAR-OLD man just barely missed being forced to spend some more time in police lock-ups after Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle grudgingly granted his bail request.
Andrew Farqharson, a minibus driver of Nine Miles, Bull Bay, St. Andrew, was charged with two counts of carnal abuse following a sexual relationship he allegedly had with a 14-year-old student.
When Farqharson appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrates' court on Friday he was granted $250,000 bail. However, Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle said he was not doing so willingly. "Even though I am about to offer you bail, I do so with a very heavy heart," said RM Gayle.
Willing participant
Strict conditions were also added to the bail bond. Farqharson is to report to the Bull Bay police daily between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.; he is also to surrender all his travel documents and have no contact with the complainant.
In making his bail application, Farqharson's attorney, Glen Cruickshank, described him as a "man who lives with his mother. He is decent person, save and except for this infraction."
Cruickshank added that the incident took place in October and claimed that the young girl was a willing participant. However, he was promptly reminded by RM Gayle, "she is under age. That is why he was charged."
Court files indicate that the girl knew Farqharson because he often picked up a relative that attended her school. On one particular day, it is alleged that he picked her up with the relative and then took her to the Harbour View Mall, where she visited friends. Afterwards he took her to his home, where they watched television before he allegedly had sex with her. In December, the girl told her mother, who then reported the matter to the police. Farqharson was called in and he made a statement to the police, after which he was arrested and charged.
Farqharson's next court appearance is January 16.
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