53-y-o man accused of having sex with minor freed by St Catherine jury

A jury in the St Catherine Circuit Court on Monday returned a not-guilty verdict for a man who was accused of having sex with a then 11-year-old girl in the tenement yard they shared. 

The 53-year-old man was freed of sexual touching and having sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years old. 

The case was tried over a week and saw several witnesses, including a medical doctor, being called. 

Justice Bertram Morrison summed up the case and handed it over to the jury, which retired for 60 minutes and returned a unanimous verdict. 

The man was subsequently told that he was free to go. 

Allegations were that in 2019 the man, who lived in the same tenement yard as the complainant, sexually assaulted her.  

The matter was reported to the police's Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse. 

An investigation was launched and the man was subsequently arrested and charged with sexual touching and having sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years old. 

He made numerous court appearances and maintained his innocence throughout. 

- Rasbert Turner 

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.