A 26-year-old man was today jailed for 15 years after he admitted to raping a 14-year-old girl in 2017.
Akeem Wong, also known as “Ben Laden,” appeared before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Demerara High Court, where he pleaded guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl.
The court heard that on June 30, 2017, in the County of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration with a child under 16 years old.
Following the act, Wong went into hiding and was caught in October 2018 in Berbice. The prosecution’s case was presented by State Counsel Teriq Mohamed while attorney Mark Conway presented on behalf of Wong.
A report compiled by a Probation Officer revealed that residents knew the child rapist of Linden to be a delinquent youth. In fact, the probation officer disclosed that one resident went as far as to call Wong a “thief.”
According to the probation officer, the child is still living in fear since the incident and would usually experience constant flashbacks and thoughts of Wong.
“On one occasion, she woke up in the middle of the night and was thinking of the accident, and suddenly felt blood coming from her nose… She wants justice to be done and thinks that he should be locked away for a long time because if he is out, she will be living in fear of him coming after her,” the probation officer relayed.
However, a remorseful Wong said that he is sincerely sorry for his action and asked the child to forgive him. He went as far as to say that he would have offered compensation if he was financially stable as he knows that she is “hurting.”
To this end, he asked the court to be lenient with him and give him a second chance at life.
It is against this background that Justice Sewnarine-Beharry considered his early plea along with the aggravating and mitigating factors and sentenced the confessed child rapist to 15 years’ imprisonment.
