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Businessman accused of molesting 9-y-o cousin freed

Published:Saturday | September 3, 2022 | 8:46 AM
The accused man was freed of the charges after the judge found that there was reasonable doubt in the Crown's case.

A 48-year-old businessman who was accused of molesting his nine-year-old cousin in 2017 broke down in tears after he was found not guilty of two counts of indecent assault on Wednesday. 

The St Andrew entrepreneur was exonerated on Wednesday by Parish Judge Broderick Smith following a trial in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court. 

The evidence before the court was that the child was molested on two occasions in 2017 while she at home where her older cousin also resides. 

The matter was reported in 2019 and the businessman was arrested and charged. 

During the trial, attorney-at-law Matthew Hyatt argued that his client had maintained his innocence from the outset.

He told the court that the allegations were fabricated by the child and her mother as part of efforts to get his client out of the family home which he shares with the child's mother. 

The businessman gave sworn evidence denying the allegations. 

He was freed of the charges after the judge found that there was reasonable doubt in the Crown's case.

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