Dominica’s resident High Court Judge, Justice Colin Williams has imposed a term of imprisonment of 18 years against a former fire officer, George Andre Jr., who was convicted of Buggery of a minor boy. Andre Jr. was indicted on three counts of Buggery and one count of Unlawful Sexual Connection (USC) which occurred between September 30, 2020, and January 1, 2021.
The now-convicted man pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and as a result, the matter went to trial on October 30, 2023, with a nine-member, consisting of eight women and one man, jury empanelled to try the case. During the one-week trial, the State called several witnesses including the victim to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
At the conclusion of the trial on November 6, 2023, after deliberating for one hour and 30 minutes, the jury returned with a guilty verdict on the charges. Following Andre’s conviction, the Court immediately passed sentence. Pursuant to legislative provisions, the convicted man was liable to a minimum custodial sentence of 16 years, eight months, and a maximum of 25 years.
In crafting his sentence, Justice Williams embarked on a computation exercise applying the procedures proposed in the sentencing guidelines for sexual offences issued in November 2021 and guided by the well-established sentencing principles, these being retribution, deterrence, prevention, and rehabilitation.
He carefully considered the specific circumstances of the case before him, weighing each of these principles and their relevance to the defendant and the victim.
The idea that the punishment should be proportionate to the harm caused and the culpability of the offender, played a central role in shaping the sentence.
Justice Williams sought to ensure that the punishment matched the severity of the sexual offense committed, and these principles within the sentencing guidelines, while taking into account the unique features of the case.
The ultimate sentence imposed by the Court against Andre Jr. was a term of imprisonment of 18 years.
DNO Admin: Is it possible you could kindly disclose the age of the minor please?
The reason for asking is – is this minor 12 and under or, is he 15 just under the age of consent per the laws of Dominica?
Thank you.
ADMIN: The identity of the victim is protected by law, generally we would avoid publishing such identifying information.
You can view the relevant law here under 38(1) of the Sexual Offences Act: https://www.dominica.gov.dm/laws/1998/act1-1998.pdf
What does it matter the age of the victim?
Buggery, is a serious vicious crime among adults never mind a minor: In Dominica we say bugger-man, in Antigua we say “bull-poppers” one way or the other that’s a bad thing, although Satan got it legalized in the rest of the world.
If is one thing I give Roosevelt credit for is leaving the law in tacked when the great, great, bull-poppers in Dominica wanted him to repeal the law; and indeed he did not succumb to international pressure to do so.
The culprit here should get life (25 years) for buggering that little boy; which he smeared, and will be stigmatized, and will be psychologically affected for the remainder of his life.
I mean, I criticize Dominica, constantly, but where it pertains to our women, they are poor but beautiful! I don’t see how any man unless he is mentally ill, can leave such beautiful women to crave the flesh of another man, never mind children!
All anti-man should go to jail when caught molesting children.
D.N.O its quite despicable that u felt the need to associate this man’s disgusting behaviour with any institution simply to boost the drama. Even with the guts to state ‘FORMER’. Smh!!
Yep… we are in those days, so buckle up for the unheard of crazy deeds.
Of a little boy or little girl, our most vulnerable? The prison should accidentally throw away the key,
hopefully it won’t be found in 18 to 60 years.
It needs to be 25 to life. and he should get life.
sir, wer is his photo please
Boy Peter boy it happened since 2020-21 just look for related stories, you’ll see the malfèteh.
Now, I hope he gets all the buggering he wants in prison, but with him getting buggered instead of him doing the buggering.
They should also castrate him, because the child is scarred for life and all this guy is getting is a stay in the prison on tax payer money
Dominica has a huge problem with child sexual abuse. This ghoulish act is very prevalent on the island. It’s bone-chillingly sickening that not even little boys escape the prying eyes of these sexual, beast-like predators.
In this case, the perpetrator deserves not only the kitchen sink thrown at him, by the judge, but the whole kitchen.
What are the government, law enforcement and civil society doing to drastically reduce the unacceptable frequency of this specific crime? As much as I know, nothing. The uncaring administration and law enforcement sit stoically around and wait for another innocent girl or boy to be victimized.