Supreme Court jury on Monday convicted a 52-year-old man of molesting his stepdaughter.
The man, whose name has been withheld to protect the victim’s identity, was remanded into custody until September 5 for the sentencing phase of his trial before Justice Renae McKay.
He was arrested on his job at a popular restaurant in March 2020 after his stepdaughter accused him of abusing her from when she was nine years old.
The man married his victim’s mother in August 2017 and allegedly began molesting her in April 2018. The abuse ended on February 19, 2020.
The girl, now 14, testified that the man took her virginity on April 11 in the bed he shared with her mother.
She said the man forced her into the marital bedroom, locked the door and dragged her onto the bed, where he raped her.
Her mother was not home, and her little brother was playing with his toys in their shared room.
On March 5, 2018, the teen said her stepfather raped her again in the marital bed while her mother was not at home.
Then, on May 7, 2018, she claimed that the man came into her room while her mother and brother were asleep and forced her to perform oral sex.
She said that her stepdad abused her for the last time on February 19, 2020.
During the sexual assaults, the teenager said that her stepdad made her talk dirty to him, and he referred to her as his “side [deleted]”.
She said she was afraid to expose her stepfather because he threatened to harm her little brother and her mother.
The court heard that the child’s mother became suspicious when she woke up on March 14, 2021 and her husband wasn’t in bed beside her.
She went looking for him and met him lying on the sofa in the front room. She testified that her now ex-husband had an erection.
A few days later, she confronted her daughter and took her to a doctor.
Based on the doctor’s findings, the mother went to the police.
The man denied the allegations when he took the witness stand.
After deliberating for two hours, the nine-member jury could not reach a verdict on three of the counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a dependent.
However, the man was convicted of the March 5, 2018 incident by a vote of 7-2.
Donard Brown prosecuted and Stanley Rolle represented the accused.
