Sexual offences involving children have dominated the list of cases for trial at the January Demerara Criminal Assizes which opened last week Tuesday. The list of cases to be heard which was published by the Registrar shows that there are 176 cases for various sexual offences. The sexual offences include carnal knowledge of a girl under 15 years, carnal knowledge of a girl under 12 years, rape of a child under 16, sexual activity with a child by family member, and sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust.
In some cases, several persons have been indicted for a single offense. In other instances, an accused has been indicted for up to nine counts of rape of a child under 16 years. Last year, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack had revealed that the most popular offence her chambers is faced with is rape of a child under 16 years old where there is penetration and sexual activity with a child where there is no penetration; sexual activity with a child family member which includes both penetration and no penetration; sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust and rape of the adults.
In majority of the cases, she said that the perpetrators are men, while the complainants are female children; the chambers have received files for complainants as young as nine months old. The DPP further stated that that the chambers rarely receive files in which the perpetrators are females. The DPP has since lauded the introduction of the Sexual Offences Courts in each of the three counties. Since the establishment of the specialized courtrooms, there has been a significant increase in convictions for such cases.
The DPP had also said that since the introduction of the Sexual Offences Act of 2010, there has been a significant increase in the number of cases being reported to the police, investigated and being prosecuted.
“Guyana in responding to the changes in society in relation to the number and types of sexual offences being committed passed a new sexual offences act in 2010. This act is modern and it looks to new offences compared to the legislation which existed before. The offences are defined unlike before where we relied on the common law position,” the DPP had noted.
NOTABLE CASES
Among those to be tried at the January Demerara Criminal Assizes are Muslim scholar Neezam Ali and former Bishops’ High School teacher, Coen Jackson. Last year, Ali was sentenced to 45 years’ imprisonment after a jury found him guilty of one of nine indictments for sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust.
He was convicted for engaging in anal penetration with one of nine underage age boys who took Quran and Arabic lessons from him at a Mosque located on the East Coast of Demerara. The offences occurred between December 5, 2011 and December 31, 2011,
Ali has since filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence. He had made a petition for bail pending appeal before the Chief Justice; his application was however denied.
Jackson, on the other hand, is accused of having sexual contact with one of his underage students. The incident is said to have occurred at D’Urban Street, Lodge, Georgetown, during December 2010 and May 2011. Jackson was charged and placed before the Magistrates’ Courts and was released on $300,000 bail. He, too, was last year committed to stand trial after a Magistrate ruled that a prima facie case was made out against him.
CANNOT CONSENT
Furthermore, it is important to note that a person under the age of 16 cannot consent to any sexual act, whatever the nature. In fact, it is a criminal offence to engage in any sex act with a person under 16.
Section 10 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act of 2010 states, “A person (“the accused”) commits the offence of rape of a child under sixteen years of age (“the complainant”) if the accused – (a) engages in sexual penetration with the complainant or (b) causes the complainant to engage in sexual penetration with a third party.”
Subsection (2) adds, “It is irrelevant whether at the time of the penetration the accused believed the complainant to be sixteen years of age and over.”
