High Court Judge Errol Thomas has slammed the behaviour of convicted rapist and murderer Fagan Jno Hope of Portsmouth labeling him a “recidivist” who lacks humanity and conscience.
A recidivist is “a person who continues to commit crimes even after being caught and punished.”
Jno Hope was found guilty by a nine-member jury for having unlawful sexual intercourse, indecent assault and buggery on a nine-year-old girl in 2012.
On Tuesday he was given the maximum 25 years for buggery, 25 years for unlawful sexual intercourse to run concurrently and for indecent assault, which carries 14 years, he was given 10 which will run consecutively, meaning he will be behind bars for 35 years in total.
In his mitigating plea, Jno Hope stated, “My Honour, I was just trying to settle down my life outside, humbling myself doing my hard work and farming. I have a woman…but destruction comes my way. Is only God knows what took place. I don’t care what people say, I fear no one. I know bow my head. Seventeen years ago I left this court and now I am back again only God knows. God knows my heart.”
Before handing down sentence, Judge Thomas called on the media ‘to prepare to write.’
“I am giving all those who have to write time to write because after that I shall be reading the Riot Act so to speak,” he said.
In summarizing the social inquiry report from Delia Stedman Gittens it stated that “the victim was subject to gross indecency by Jno Hope who took advantage of her innocence and vulnerability”.
“Your acts have adversely affected her social, emotional and academic life. She was subject to ridicule from her peers and had to relocate to a new community. She feels unprotected, embarrassed and fearful. All those interviewed in the community had negative things to say about you. You are considered a threat to society and more so to children,” the Judge said as he summized the report.
Thomas also pointed out that a report from the Social Welfare department indicates that between 2010 and 2014, 906 children were sexually abused in Dominica. The figures are as follows: in 2010-216; 2011-211; 2012-152; 2013-157 and 2014-170.
“The child was treated as one without feelings, in the way she was taken to your home and jacked up and sexual intercourse followed. This was so on early mornings and the child said one morning you were stark naked to receive her. The sex was both virginal and anal,” Justice Thomas said.
The Judge also spoke about the aims of sentencing by the court which is retribution, deterrence and prevention and said that among the aggravating factors was the age of the child, the manner in which the crime was executed, the use of a knife to force her to take $150.00 so she won’t tell anyone of the crime.
Jno Hope is no stranger to the court having been convicted in 2001 for incest, 1996 for murder and sentenced to death, 2014 for battery and also having escaped from prison among others.
“You have a name ‘Fagan Jno Hope’ that sounds noble but that is as far as it goes,” the judge said. “You lack humanity, you lack conscience you, are a recidivist.”
He continued, “The court plays a pivotal role in protecting society aided by the police and probation officers. The court must make the point that this sentence is not based on a guilty plea but a full trial took place before a jury so please explain this to all. Fagan Jno Hope, Dominica needs to be protected against you and people like you. You were a convicted murderer who was sentenced to death and did not stop.”
I don’t understand something if he was sentenced to death why is he out of jail? Can someone explain?
ask the mercie committee and why? smh he along with deon Dinnard
Reading this sickens me. What ridiculous figures. No wonder our youth no longer act their age.They are sexualised too early. I remember being laughed at in high school, 3rd form, for asking what a virgin was. Or thinking a boyfriend was the boy that you made SHEEMEH KOSHII to see after school. Just to see him pass by with his friends, and SMILE all the way home. Our children are dealing with so much. SO much weight to carry the secret of abuse, worse, continued abuse. Our society is failing our children. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THE VICTIM TO BE RIDICULED? where is the empathy?? The understanding of what has happened to this child and 999 other REPORTED cases?? What about the boys? Don’t think it’s only the girls, and for them it’s an even heavier burden to carry. LORD….I’m about to cry again.
I commend Judge Errol Thomas. This is the manner, in no uncertain way, to inform those types of criminals how much they have hurt the little ones, their family and society in general.
Only today I informed someone that when criminals are imprisoned they should be shown a simulated tape of what they have done and how much it has affected their victims, some of whom are fortunate to be still alive. Hopefully, it will rehabilitate them.
I further stated, criminals are sent to prison for a few years and then released into society, most of them re-offend and in a worst manner, that they have no conscience and the government should do something concrete about that, either keep them in prison or rehabilitate them. Hopefully they are not beyond rehabilitation. Frankly, they should be kept out of society forever.
I also said, I will write the Chief of Police, my MP and MPP about that. The person replied, they probably have one but it needs to be updated.” I will.
It appears he should have been dead a long time ago. You have a woman. Is she not sufficient for you? I hope she is happy to be rid of you for some years, if not forever. You are a pedophile who will never stop as long as you have the energy.
God forbid that people as you should do such things to his innocent little ones whom he loves so much. Our Lord Jesus Christ cries because of such sins. It is in the Bible how He abhors people as you “who should have a millstone be hung around your neck and you be thrown into the depth of the sea.”.
You mentioned the Most Holy Name of God in your evil works which were spurred on by his enemy and the enemy of our souls, Satan, the detractor and destroyer of souls. It is a grievous sin.
You have a nice name but you spoiled it. Your rap sheet is long and bad. You are an evil man. Shame on you! You deserve being incarcerated for the rest of your life with no parole. Capital punishment is fitting for your crimes.
That’s what you get when you follow the Uneducated Wicked People, you dirtbag! You should have stuck with Labour, we would have encouraged you to turn your life around. You chose to run with criminals, thugs and troublemakers now it’s 35 years for you. You won’t be missed…bye!!!
I don’t know who this Judge is, but they need to keep him glued to the bench. There is an epidemic of crimes against children on the island. He should have received 100 years in jail, but 35 is a good number. If he escapes again, he should get the business.
I hope he receives the same treatment in prison that he rendered to that innocent child. Good riddance and thank you Judge Thomas. Only nine years old at the time. Damn bastard!!!! Dominicans have become soft.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House is worried about potential protest action by an alleged member of the “House of Assembly.” Our priorities are always upside down.
wait he is a convicted murder sentenced to death??? WHY THE (bad word) IS HE OUT TO DO THIS IN THE FIRST (bad word) PLACE!!!!!
same yard as the two brothers, well after the altercation with Milton who was the boyfriend of Joan their sister, The brother Fagan approached Eboy and a fight of death ensued and oh boy never in my life as young man did I see anything like that. Fagan beat him up so badly that he ended up under one of the houses and was still being stoned to death and when he was no longer moving anymore, he pulled him out took him and put him on his shoulders in an unconscious state and took him to the hospital. Every one in that neighbourhood knows Fagan and that fight only confirmed all along what we thought about this guy, no one dare mess with him not even in Prison I can assure you of that. He is a John Mongrel of the feared 28’s gang in Pollsmore Prison in South Africa that is the Guy….He is gonna escape Prison again that’s for sure, he is deadly, evil and a Devil incarnate. Fagan you got what you deserve! For all the wickedness you did to us as kids…you’re nothing but a psychopath!
And you guys allowed this to go on. If this was my daughter, hmmm. That’s all I will say.
That fight with Eboy is forever etched in my mind. I was a little girl. I was possibly traumatized from witnessing this.
Only now i can see that the dominican court system is taking serious action…if serious action was taken the first time this man committed incest (on his own child )there would be no other victims..i blame the gov’t ..as a matter of fact i still think that the law should make more improuvements ,such as ,the punishment should be decided by the victims family for example,,,families should have the possibility to punish severely the perpetrator after senceless murder,rape whether is is anal or vaginal ,physical abuse,theft…the family should be able to decide a criminals life or death ,blendness ,after a crime have taken place such as the one above mentioned,,,this is a disgrace,this man should never see the day any more,he should not even get a break in the prison yard because if a man have no mercy on his own child ,do you think that he will have mercy on a stranger’s child?No he will not.As for me i’d ask to hang him…A no prescription law is needed ,there will be many more…
Do these criminals have a face? Why are their pictures not shown for people to known what these beasts look like.
The system seems to be protecting their identity.
Where is his picture?
Almost a thousand molestation in 2 years. This means there are probably a thousand child molesters out there. This has passed pandemic stage and through epidemic. This is crazy. I keep saying Dominica is a sick society. The judgment is appropriate but why does it have to take solo long. We have been failing to protect our young. The damage to our society is exponential. I am happy to see people are reporting. This are the kinds of things we should see demonstrations for putting pressure on lawmakers to immediately amend laws increasing punishment. Teachers in schools and community should play role in reporting suspected abuse. This is freaking outrageous.
Should be almost 1000 in 4 yrs. Still!!!!! We should all be ashamed of ourselves
A well thought-out comment Shaka!
But unfortunately, the REAL numbers of child molestations are probably even HIGHER!
Can you imagine the number of molestations against young, innocent children that are NEVER reported or even heard about? Probably in the hundreds, if not thousands over the past four years.
And this sickness is not only happening here in Dominica – these perverts exist all around the world. It is endemic! Sad!
“Thomas also pointed out that a report from the Social Welfare department indicates that between 2010 and 2014, 906 children were sexually abused in Dominica. The figures are as follows: in 2010-216; 2011-211; 2012-152; 2013-157 and 2014-170.” And after all of this the new Minister for Women’s Affairs, Catherine Daniel, said in an interview after her appointment, that women who suffer such abuse should ask God, what positive can I take from this? What lessons are you trying to teach me? What can I do better? Are you not seeing that our leadership thinking on these issues of violence against women are misguided at best and foolish at worst! She put the blame and onus on the woman! And what did the last Minister for Women’s Affairs, Gloria Shillingford, do about this? Nothing! This country is sickening!
I am appalled when I hear of a woman being blamed because she was assaulted.
There was a case some time ago when a judge told a rape victim in court that she would be less likely to be raped if she didn’t dress like a whore.
There was a time when it was considered O.K. for the judge or defence attorney to ask a female rape victim questions about her sexual history implying that if this was not her first sex outside marriage it was not so serious.
Victims have been forced to describe the rape in court in an effort to show there was consent or that the female co-operated or assisted in the act.
Two things need to be pointed out here.
(1) It is not the victim who is on trial.
(2) Absolutely nothing gave the predator a right to sexually assault (not even physically OR verbally assault) the victim. How she was dressed and/or her sexual history have no bearing on the charge that is being tried.
Continued …
Rev. Donald Hill (continued)
To ask the victim what she can learn from the ordeal or what she thinks God may be trying to teach her from what happened are questions a therapist or counsellor may ask her in such a session. But they should not be used to shift the responsibility from the police who are responsible to investigate the case and the court which is responsible to render justice, unto the victim as if she is to blame for the crime.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. International Evangelist.
It also means, do not place yourself in such a position or be tempted that you find yourself in such a situation. Women must always be on the alert. Age brings reason.
If they are children, their parents are responsible for informing them of the perils that lurk and to stay away from such people.
We need a SEX OFFENDERS REGISTER in Dominica so that those who offend in such heinous acts are mad to remain under public and legal scrutiny for as long as is deemed necessary by the courts by having to remain on that register. Please develop this proposal for introduction into law!! Thank you!!
In the long term a sex offenders registry might be any nation’s greatest weapon in this battle.
It should be complete with name and picture.
It should be updated showing the person’s present address. This means he would have to inform a central authority when he moved.
To stop him from travelling abroad his passport should be revoked.
Naturally, the registry must be online. It would be of use to –
Customs officials at national borders and border crossing officers.
Immigration authorities.
Potential landlords who want to check on who they rent to.
Potential employers who want to know who they hire especially to work with children.
Police and security guards who want to check on men hanging out around schools, in parks, play grounds,
malls, or around apartment buildings.
Or simply people who want to check on a newcomer to their community.
People should be encouraged to use the registry. It should be promoted!
Protect your children :!:…
should have had to serve all his time consecutively, totaling 60 years. bastard
35 years! Who knows? He may die in prison.
God bless you Judge. Now you talking!!! These men have been violating our children, robbing them of their childhood and and their innocence & getting away with it!! We need more judges like you! Paedofiles all over the world take notice. Our Judges are waiting for you!! DA will be tough on paedofiles! There’s no room for you here!!! God bless Dominica.
“pedophiles”
It is a message for the others that this will no longer be tolerated and that they will be prosecuted. It sends a clear message to them. They should learn from this otherwise face prosecution and imprisonment.
My ARP was on juvenile sex offenders and the increased recidivism rates with multisystemic treatment vs individual therapy.
Working with juvenile sex offenders now assessing and providing treatment for them, I realize that there are so many who are a “lost cause.” What I have also realized with these pricks is that they only escalate. Their crimes become more heinous with time. If ever this guy is release on good behavior, I would not be surprised if he re-offends and would escalate getting rid of future victims who then won’t be able to identify or turn him in.
SMh…the world we live in.
There should be no good behaviour for these criminals cause they will only repeat their crimes . let the crimes they committed be given back to them in prison!!!
There is a real problem here.
The behavioral sciences tell us pedophiles are (usually) impossible to cure. They do not like to use the words “cure” or “cured”. A psychiatrist testifying in a legal setting may go so far as to say “not likely to reoffend” but unfortunately they have been wrong too often.
This is a serial crime and often from victim to victim the violence tends to escalate. This commentator is correct in saying it can lead to murder when the rapist kills to prevent the victim from identifying him.
Castration or chemical castration are being considered in some places and have been used. Long sentences behind bars are not inappropriate for the good of the community.
However things that tend to program the mind of a young man to commit such crimes need to be brought under the control of the law. Every form of porn, especially internet porn, should be illegal.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. International Evangelist.
My suggestion would be that a special prison be built to place them in forever. They have tarnished the life of our innocent children. It is a life sentence for them; they will never get over it. Those criminals should also be sentenced to life, if not executed.