A man was this afternoon sentenced to 44 years imprisonment for having sex on two occasions with an underage girl, first when the child was 10 and again when she was 11.
The man, Errol De Souza was found guilty by a jury, about two weeks ago, on two counts of rape.
He committed the acts between January 01, 2013 and January 31, 2013, when the girl was age 10, and again on May 03, 2014, when the same girl was 11.
Following the presentation of a probation report, trial judge Jo Ann Barlow imposed the custodial sentences. The judge sentenced the man to 20 years on the first count, and 24 years on the latter count.
She thereafter instructed that the two sentences are to run consecutively, hence they accumulated to 44 years.
In arriving at a sentence for him, Justice Barlow considered that DeSouza committed a violent act on the young girl, and would have abused a position of trust.
Additionally, the Judge ordered that the convicted rapist be exposed to rehabilitative programs for sexual offenders during his time in prison.
DeSouza was represented by Attorney Ravindra Mohabir, while the case for the State was presented by Prosecutors Lisa Cave, Sarah Martin and Seeta Bishundial.
This trial was heard in the Sexual Offences courtroom at the High Court in Georgetown.
