Forty-eight-year
old
Orin
Charles
was
yesterday
found
guilty
of
raping
a
four-year
old
girl
and
sentenced
to
life
imprisonment.
Following
the
unanimous
guilty
verdict
at
the
Demerara
Assizes,
Justice
Yonette
Cummings-Edwards
imposed
the
life
sentence
hoping
it
would
send
a
message
to
would-be
offenders.
Defence
Counsel,
Mr.
Leslie
Sobers,
requesting
a
lenient
sentence,
said
only
the
Lord
knew
the
whole
truth
of
the
matter.
Charles,
he
told
the
court,
had
been
known
to
the
child's
family
for
15
years
and
there
was
no
indication
that
he
ever
exhibited
a
tendency
of
that
nature
before.
Sobers
asked
that
judgment
be
tempered
with
mercy.
Prosecutor
Miss
Leron
Daly
had
nothing
to
say
about
sentence,
but
left
it
to
the
discretion
of
the
court.
Before
imposing
sentence,
the
judge
took
into
account
the
circumstances
under
which
the
offence
was
committed
on
November
25,
2004.
On
that
day,
the
court
was
told,
Charles,
a
regular
visitor
at
the
home
of
the
family,
took
the
girl
to
his
home
after
he
was
sent
on
an
errand
by
the
mother,
and
there
he
took
the
opportunity
to
remove
her
clothing
and
resorted
to
having
sexual
intercourse
with
her.
The
judge
noted
that
children
are
the
future
of
this
generation
and
therefore
the
courts
have
a
duty
to
protect
adults
as
well
as
young
children.
She
pointed
out,
too,
that
the
accused
had
been
placed
in
a
position
of
trust
which
he
breached
and
that
was
something
which
the
court
could
not
take
lightly.
Referring
to
defence
counsel's
claim
that
there
was
no
indication
that
the
accused
had
the
propensity
for
such
an
act,
the
judge
added,
"we
have
the
evidence
of
the
child
and
the
jury
have
spoken".
Observing
that
the
girl
might
have
been
affected
by
the
traumatic
experience,
the
judge
decided
to
ask
the
Probation
and
Welfare
Dept
of
the
Ministry
of
Human
Services
to
provide
counselling
to
the
child.
According
to
the
judge,
the
child
might
have
become
traumatised
by
the
entire
event.
Turning
to
Charles,
the
judge
said,
"the
offence
for
which
you
have
been
charged
is
a
serious
one
and
the
sentence
of
this
court
is
life
imprisonment."
The
lanky
accused
took
the
sentence
calmly.
Although
he
was
sentenced
to
life
imprisonment,
legal
sources
said
that
with
good
behaviour
in
prison,
he
could
be
considered
for
parole
after
serving
14
years
in
jail.
Wednesday,
November
08,
2006
