BY BARBARA GAYLE, Staff Reporter
THE LOVE LETTER and a Valentine card which a 15-year-old girl sent to a man accused of sexually assaulting her and the fact she looked older than her age worked in his favour.
Omar Bent, 22, labourer, of Cassava Piece, St. Andrew, was given a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty last week to a carnal abuse charge.
The facts of the case were that Bent and the complainant, who is now 15 years old, were involved in an intimate relationship since 2003. On February 25, 2005, Bent saw the complainant at Cassava Piece and asked her where she was coming from. Bent kicked and boxed her.
He then took her to his house where he sexually assaulted and kept her overnight at his house. The girl reported the matter to the police and Bent was arrested and charged.
Attorney-at-law Leroy Equiano , who represented Bent, said that although the girl was very mature for her age, he would not plead the statutory defence. He said the fact that the girl attended a junior high school, Bent ought to have known that the girl was underage.
Mr. Equiano referred to a Valentine card and a love letter which the girl sent to Bent after the incident. He also asked the judge to be lenient with Bent.
Mr. Justice Leighton Pusey in passing sentence in the Home Circuit Court said he looked at the complainant and there was the possibility that one might have thought she was older than her age. The judge said he saw the love letter and card which the complainant had sent Bent.
The judge warned Bent to be very careful that he did not get intimately involved with junior high school girls. He was given a three-year suspended sentence but the judge told him that if he was convicted of any offence during the next three years he would have to serve the three-year sentence for carnal abuse.
Do
you have a problem? Is something bothering
you? Write to 