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A 55-year-old man from a Northeastern community in Dominica is to be sentenced tomorrow following his conviction of unlawful sexual connection and indecent assault against his niece.<\/p>\n
A nine member jury on March 22, 2021, found the man guilty of fondling the victim\u2019s breast and inserting his finger in her private parts in 2017 when the child was 8-years-old.<\/p>\n
At the sentencing hearing on May 4, 2021, attorney for the convict, Dawn Yearwood Stewart, pleaded with the court to impose a non-custodial sentence.<\/p>\n
While admitting that some of the aggravating factors which go against her client are the breach of trust, the age gap between man and child and the exploitation of a child as well as the fact the victim has suffered embarrassment, stress and emotional damage due to the situation and the level of discomfort and disappointment suffered by the entire family, Stewart pointed to her clients level of cooperation with the police, his level of remorse, the support from his community and the fact that he has no previous conviction as mitigating factors in his favour.<\/p>\n
“There are no winners,” Stewart told the court. \u201cThere cannot be winners in such matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cThere was a level of trust as several of the State witnesses stated that the child had slept in the same bed with her uncle on several occasions. A once-close family has been broken from this situation and the family needs to heal…the prisoner has been punished for the offense as he was beaten by family members from the time the allegations were made.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defense attorney argued that the convict does not present any damage to the public or the victim, as many have considered him a \u201cmodel citizen,\u201d indicating a prospect of rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
The attorney further told the court that based on the convicts mother’s age, she is strongly dependent on him and his absence from the household has created a void.<\/p>\n
“So I ask the court since he is a first time offender, a custodial sentence should not be imposed on him and My Lady, I humbly suggest you depart from the sentencing\u00a0 guidelines. If a custodial sentence is imposed, we ask that it be suspended,\u201d Stewart pleaded.<\/p>\n
However, State attorney Daina Matthew\u00a0 told the court that the prosecution is requesting a custodial sentence given the circumstances.<\/p>\n
Matthew said that though there are instances where the court can step away from the sentencing guidelines, that is, exceptional circumstances where such departure can be justified, she is of the view that the defense attorney has presented none and a non-custodial sentence would not be in the interest of justice.<\/p>\n
According to her, the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors and the seriousness of the offense is high.<\/p>\n
“So it would be very difficult for the court, when considering the starting point that is suggested by the guideline, to even reach anything near a noncustodial sentence,\u201d Matthew posited.<\/p>\n
She advised the court that a suspended sentence can only be considered when the Judge\u2019s final sentence is two years or less.<\/p>\n
The State attorney further pointed to the need to emphasize public disapproval for sexual matters and says the sentencing imposed by the court should serve as a warning for other perpetrators who may violate another person sexually.<\/p>\n
She added that the personal circumstances of the offender should take second place behind the plain duty of the court to protect victims of sexual attacks and to reflect the clear intention of parliament that offenses of these kinds should be met with greater severity than may have been the case in former years.<\/p>\n
The maximum penalty for unlawful sexual connection is 10 years in prison whilst indecent assault carries a penalty of 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor suggested that the court should consider a starting point of 65% of the maximum sentence which would be eight years and nine months for the offense of indecent assault and six years and three months for unlawful sexual connection with the sentences running concurrently.<\/p>\n
In arriving at this sentence, Matthew said some factors taken into account is the fact that though the convict has apologized to the victim, he continues to maintain his innocence which she believes does not demonstrate genuine remorse.<\/p>\n
The mitigating facts which she says go in his favour is the fact that he is of good character which family members and his community have spoken of.<\/p>\n
The matter was adjourned to tomorrow May 7, 2021, for sentencing.<\/p>\n
Dominica News Online (DNO) has not published the name of the offender in order to protect the identity of the victim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 55-year-old man from a Northeastern community in Dominica is to be sentenced tomorrow following his conviction of unlawful sexual connection and indecent assault against his niece. A nine member jury on March 22, 2021, found the man guilty of…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":267174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,235,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-court-law","category-homepage-carousel","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n