High Court Judge Victoria Charles-Clarke has labeled the conduct of 33-year-old Steve John as “deplorable, unacceptable” and has sentenced him to seven years in jail after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual connection on his ten-year-old sister.
The maximum sentence is 14 years in jail but for his guilty plea the judge, mandated by law, had to give him a 1/3 reduction in the sentence. She set the benchmark at 10 years.
John was indicted on a charge of incest, indecent assault and unlawful sexual connection on his sister. He pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful sexual connection and so the State withdrew the other charges.
Reports are that the child was left in his care by his sister who had gone out one evening. The child came to John to sleep with him saying that she was afraid. The incident occurred in 2014.
During the several ordeals, he placed his finger in her private part and telling her “not to tell”.
On one occasion, John’s seven-year-old nephew caught him in the act and asked him what he was doing and he said “nothing”.
The child reported the matter and on examination by doctors, certain things were noticed and she was admitted to the Princess Margaret Hospital.
In mitigating plea, John’s lawyer, Peter Alleyne, told the court that his client has indicated his bad feelings towards the incident and was “unhappy at what had happened and was willing to apologize to his sister.”
“He lost his self-control and respect…he should have never allowed that to happen to him. He is sorry for his actions and is hoping to make it up to her in the future,” he said.
He also stated that his client had pleaded guilty very early since he did not want his sister to go through the embarrassment of a trial and that he had placed himself at the mercy of the court.
A social inquiry report stated that the child was now “fearful of her brother, was embarrassed and shameful” about the incident. Her parents said that she had shown signs of “withdrawal and was disobedient”. The report also stated that her brother had not directly expressed remorse and maintains that she was the “aggressor.”
The prosecution said the aggravating factors in the matter are that the two are siblings, the age of the child, John betrayed his sister’s trust, the incident happened more than once, he showed no remorse and that she had suffered mental and emotional scars.
Justice Charles-Clarke agreed, saying the aggravating factors far outweigh the mitigation.
“The court is reminded of its responsibilities to protect children; his conduct is reprehensible to say the least. The child was placed in his trust; his attitude is not only deplorable but unacceptable. He needs to be clearly put away from society. A strong message must be sent out given the prevalence of such cases in Dominica, society and victims needs to be protected,” she said.
Perhaps the man was provoked into this indecent act? As you all know, girls are well aware of their sexuality from a very early age and this kind of thing can just tip over vulnerable men. As you know, many priests and politicians have fallen victim to enticement.
Perhaps little girls should be trained in modesty and non-provocative behaviour? Just saying.
In any event, people who do this kind of thing are mentally ill and the last place they should be put is in a prison. This man must be let out of jail and put into psychiatric care so that he can recover from his ordeal.
The victim is already showing signs of trauma.
There should be immediate professional counseling and therapy for this child and it should be ongoing for a meaningful length of time. This is to (a) heal the present trauma, and (b) avoid future problems.
Future problems including but not necessarily limited to.
(I) Withdrawal. (Alone in room.)
(2) Irregular eating and sleeping patterns.
(3) Learning problems at school.
(4) Meddling with or assaulting other children.
(5) Tobacco and or drugs.
(6) Depression. Suicidal tendencies.
Counseling must be made mandatory for victims of sexual child abuse. It should be under the oversight of a court appointed social worker responsible to see that the plan is followed through.
The people are still waiting to see;
a national sex offenders website registry,
a law making it mandatory to report a case of sexual child abuse,
a shorter wait between the arrest and the trial,
specialized child and family courts.
Sincerely,…
The National Child Offenders Registry should be based in Qatar where we have a lot of CBI citizens. They can lawfully abuse kids at any age whatsoever.
Way to go Dominica CBI!
What a bloody shame on the justice system in Dominica,33 yrs. raping a child of 10 yrs. and the rapist is sent to jail for 7 yrs. what message is the justice system sending to Dominicans and and foreigners who would like to visit the country? This 7 yrs jail will not deter rapist.This is unfair to this little girl who will suffer for all her life,this man received a slap on the wrists and is laughing at the justice system…this is just unfair..
its disgusting to the stomach that a grown man (so call man,animal) would engage in a heinous crime on his own little sister who he should be protecting from such crime. The laws need to change and i personally think this man should get 30yrs hard labor..it saddens me and sick to my stomach.what is this world coming to? how could a child come onto you? and if she did,you as the big brother should scold her. nasty dirty man.
He should have gotten more than 7 years! At least she wont have to see his nasty face until she’s an adult, hopefully, poor thing.
This judge with all her nice talk is worthless! This man should be given the maximum sentence! This incest,rape,indecent assault on a child,therefore no charges should be dropped. Lawyers defending these pedophiles should stop it! I’ve noticed on this island,grown men disrespect little children as if it’s normal,lots of pedophiles on the loose in this island! Most men on this island live promiscuous lifestyle,drinking alot of alcohol,smoking,so they’re always high,doped and drunk. They then have need for woman under those influence then resort to children!
What was this hard back man thinking doing that to his little sister.? Garcon tha is your blood you are the one to protect this child. Na mister cannot be simple. I vex.
This sh……t been going on in dominica for years, they even get their kinship pregnant at it too. Animals don’t sleep with siblings.
Stupes!! Getting fed up with these things and 7 years for a life he has ruined. Stupes.
If only the sister knew this would have happened, she would not have left her in the house with him. She, being innocent trusted him. Such a thing never crossed her mind.
An atrocious crime was committed against a child. She will be scarred for life. I hope D/ca has a counselor who could help her.
She was afraid of sleeping in the dark. If there was a lamp which is a safe one, it could have been lighted and placed in the room where she slept so that she would not feel afraid and alone in the dark. Many children do not like the dark and sleeping in the dark..
If he were in Canada’s prison, he would have to be isolated. The prisoners have a code of ethic, do not kill, rape children nor interfere sexually with them. As bad as they are themselves, this is one thing they are against. They would murder him.
Those of you who plan to attend college/university, should consider taking family/child counseling. It appears a few are badly needed in Dominica.
Had this been rape then the sentence could have been Life under the new amendments. Under the original Act the maximum sentence for unlwaful sexual connection is 14 years. I understand that the guilty plea warrants a third off. DNO help us here with the maths please 14 minus 4 years and 8 months = 9 years and 4 months doesn’t it? so why 7 years? with time off for good behaviour, the victim will still be a child when he comes out.
Meanwhile the offence happened in 2014. Two years of court proceedings!!! This is a definite improvement on some of the very protracted proceedings victims have suffered through in the past. Thank you Peter Alleyne for advising your client to plead guilty and not wasting the courts time with the endless ridiculous adjournments that further traumatise victims.
If this is not rape,then what is it It is rape,because it’s was against the wish of a child who can’t make such decision! Furthermore, incest with a child is even worse,if not death penalty,it should be about his age in jail!!!
C’mon guys, only one finger.
Not a big deal when our CBI holders in the middle east can marry and have full sex with kids from 3 years up.
The man should be released immediately. If not, lets go after our pedo citizens in the middle east TOO!!!!
In some middle east countries they have no knowledge of the true and living God nor His word so they know nothing about His moral code. They have no respect for women nor children.
Dominica has a different demographic and we expect more of it. Please don’t compare it to a heathen nation. The vile behavior portrayed in this news article should never be tolerated in Dominica and ought to be punished with the full force of the law. Anything less is inviting vigilante justice.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill.
Dr. Hill, the reality is that DOMINICAN CITIZENS IN THE MIDDLE EAST ARE HAVING SEX WITH KIDS – LAWFULLY!!
Whether they are Muslim, or not, the are Dominican Ciitzens via the CBI program.
@CBI Citizen Observation but wtf that have to do with the middle east ur damn fool come out dere
Speak English please, if you can
some bad moral symtoms in this nation and the world by extension . Lord only you knows this man’s future.
Sadly, his future is grim. I refer you to Revelation 21:8.
But if he will truly repent of his sins, and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior he will discover that
There is a fountain filled with blood,
drawn from Immanuel’s veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
The Bible says
”… … ….the blood of Jesus Christ (God’s) Son cleanseth us from ALL sin.” ( 1 John 1:7)
All he hast to do is repent (turn away from his life of sin) and believe in the Savior who says
”Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill.
And he has the audacity to be engaging in the “BLAME THE VICTIM GAME” by saying that she was the aggressor. This guy represents a total waste of DNA.
disgusting!
This guy needs to be jailed for 20 yrs or more . He didn’t want his sis to go through wat!!! He never thought of dt wen he was doing it to the child.. Rapist ways… Nasty guy he needs to be kept behind bars for a very long time and even castrated …….,
This idea that if one pleads guilty the sentence is automatically one third less. Cheers to the judge, a message must be sent to protect the children. Where are the moralists? If this was two consenting adults performing a gay act.The moralists would be out there,
He is lucky he got only 7 years. I would give him life If I was the judge.
He can’t get life because the max is 14. He pleaded guilty thus the reason for 7 years. The laws need to be changed only then these criminals can be severely punished.
Jah boy
He got a seven year sentence
the child a lifetime sentence
he will be out soon
she will experience a lifetime of nightmares
shes lost her innocence
shouldn’t he lose something too
i mean de most important tool to him or half of it ?
let people call him ” morceau l-l-
He should be shot / executed!
Jeez, Incest and a Pedophilia… Lotta sick folks in D/ca
When is the government going to review the law on the years sexual predators serve!? The maximum sentence needs to increase
To me they just did!!!
This is really sad how grown men take advantage of children, and then blame the victim .
i hope BIG BUBBA, will give him exactly what he deserves in jail, hope they have lots of soap
bars, in this jail.
There seems to be a catalogue of sexual abuse in Dominica. I’m happy that survivors are now speaking up, but the legacy of all of this needs a lot of therapeutic healing. Is Dominica progressive enough to offer non judgemental counselling and therapy? These are some of the questions that need to be addressed at this pivotal time.
I hate to break it to you but many studies have shown that even therapy does nothing or very little to help most pedophiles. because in most cases the people pedophiles do not agree or admit that they have done something wrong. They don’t REALLY see a problem with being attracted to and having sexual contact with children. It is astounding but true.
Not only does the jail sentence for these crimes need to be increased, but also we need a NATIONAL website upon which the pictures of all these convicted pedophiles can be posted so that if they end up in your neighborhood or anywhere near children, the responsible adults can take action.
I have been saying that for centuries. what are our law makers and Dominica legal system doing?
Some situations in Dominica make the country look so pathetic its not funny. Law makers, policemen and politicians, stop concentrating on less important issues and deal with these!
I was speaking more on the side of the survivors, not the perpetrators.
The court should lable these pervet sex offenders and have their picture posted on all light poles in Dominica . The court should also put a laraina bobbett on him.
The judge should of added his age and the poor child’s age and give him and give him the total amount in years!!! You’re a low life piece of poo!!!!
well said judge …..but i have a concern with the court system
i would have prefer if they castrate those of such actions and allow them to maintain ( counseling, education…..)the victim up till an adult.
jail wont change them nor assist the child in no way. its all on the parents now to try to remold this victim
DNO why did you publish his name, I thought you had to protect the innocent minor identity?. she has to live with this for the rest of her life with the whole world looking at her. This is not good.
Geez those court cases tell alot about the kind of people who live on the island of Dominica.
you mean it tells much about the kinds of MEN living in Dominica. Over 90% of all pedophiles are MALE.
Kindly be careful with this statement as a number of male philatelists in the UK have been attacked by dyslexics.
This in not a joke.
DEATH PENALTY****