Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A plumber from Chaguanas has been acquitted of the statutory rape of a teenage neighbour in 2010.
The man, whose identity was withheld due to the outcome and his connection to the alleged victim, was found not guilty of the crime at the end of his trial before Justice Gail Gonzales and a nine-member jury, last Friday.
The man was accused of having sex with the 14-year-old girl with her consent on November 17, 2010.
The maximum penalty under the Sexual Offences Act is 12 years in prison.
The man, who was 29 years old at the time, was allegedly to have committed the offence at the Enterprise, Chaguanas, home of the victim who lived a few houses away from him.
He was released on bail and was eventually committed to stand trial at the end of a preliminary inquiry almost a decade ago.
His trial was only expedited under the provisions of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act (AJIPA) after the indictment was filed and the case was assigned to Justice Gonzales almost a year ago.
During the trial, which began last Monday and ended four days later, the victim, now an adult, was intensely cross-examined by attorney Christina Carter and accused of fabricating the allegations.
The man also elected to take the witness stand at the close of the prosecution’s case. He did not rely on the defence that he honestly believed that she was over 16, as he instead denied ever having sex with her.
The jurors took almost two hours to deliberate over the evidence presented before them before they returned with the verdict.
The case was prosecuted by Ambay Ramkellawan, of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
