A 31-year-old man from La Horquetta, Arima, has been convicted of sexually assaulting his eight-year-old neighbour in 2010.
It took a nine-member jury before High Court Judge Kathy Ann Waterman-Latchoo a little under an hour to return with the unanimous guilty verdict for the man on Monday.
He was accused of attacking the victim on April 10, 2010.
The man, who was 17 years old at the time, was playing football in the victim’s yard with the victim and her friend.
The girl took a break and went inside to drink some water and was followed by the man, who was friends with her older brother.
The victim claimed that he came into the kitchen, took off her clothes and performed oral sex on her.
The victim’s brother-in-law, who was watching television in the living room, caught the man whilst he was committing the act.
He claimed that the man was holding down one of her hands and covering her mouth and she was crying and trying to push him away.
The accused ran away to his aunt, who he lived with next door. He reportedly confessed to her and she gave him “licks”.
When the police arrived on the scene, he confessed to them and the victim’s mother.
However, despite his previous confessions, the man denied any wrongdoing when he chose to take the witness stand to testify in his defence.
He claimed he was helping the victim get water and the cup fell on the floor.
He claimed that he bent down to pick up the cup and did not realise that the victim was naked in front of him as the lights were off in the kitchen.
The man, who was on bail after being charged, was taken into custody after the verdict was delivered at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain. He is expected to reappear in court tomorrow to be sentenced.
The case was prosecuted by Dylan Martin and Niara Boodan, of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
