Man convicted of having sex with girls aged 6 and 8 to be sentenced May 19

A man who has been convicted of having sexual intercourse with two girls, aged 6 and 8 more than seven years ago in Manchester, is to be sentenced on May 19.

The 54-year-old man was last week found guilty on three counts of sexual touching of a minor, four counts of grievous sexual assault, and three counts of sexual intercourse with a person under 16.

Having sexual intercourse with a person under 16 is an offence under Jamaican law and is distinct from the offence of rape.

The man's name has been witheld to protect the identities of the children.

The man was convicted by a seven-member jury following a two-week trial before Justice Grace Henry McKenzie in the Manchester Home Circuit Court on Thursday.

The offences were committed between 2018 and 2019.

The court heard that the incidents occurred at several locations, including the man’s home, the homes of the children, and an abandoned building in the parish.

Evidence presented during the trial indicated that some of the offences occurred after he picked up the children from school or when he was watching them on behalf of their parents.

The matter came to light in March 2019 after one of the victims, then eight years old, reportedly told her older sister that she had been molested and that it had happened on more than one occasion.

The sister then informed her mother, who contacted the other child’s parent.

The report prompted a police investigation which led to the perpetrator's arrest on March 22, 2019.

During the trial, however, he denied the allegations.

He claimed he had been set up by the mothers of the children, whom he alleged wanted to gain control of a house he had been looking after, and that they instructed the children to fabricate the accusations.

The prosecution was led by Crown counsel Alice-Ann Gabbidon and Nyron Wright, who appeared on behalf of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The man was represented by attorney-at-law Ashford Meikle.

- Tanesha Mundle.

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