A 62-year-old St Philip man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping an eight-year-old girl, with the judge stressing that such crimes must attract severe punishment to protect vulnerable children and deter offenders.
After his remand time was discounted, Shayne Douglas Marshall, of Rock Hall, St Philip, is left having to serve 13 years and 144 days more behind the bars at Dodds Prison for having sexual intercourse with a girl who was under the age of 14, between May 1 and June 30, 2019.
Marshall, had denied the charge and was unanimously convicted of the offence by a nine-member jury last November, following a three week trial.
Justice Pamela Beckles said: “Sexual assaults upon young children must be severely punished and those who engage in this evil conduct should expect to go to prison for a long period of time, not only to punish them, but also to deter other like-minded individuals who might have similar inclinations. Parliament, in fixing the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for such offences, clearly had that in mind as these laws are designed to protect young and vulnerable children.”
She added: “There is a high probability that the sexual activity which constituted this offence will have a significant and long-lasting adverse impact on the child. The offence occurred when the complaint was very young and at an important stage of her emotional, sexual and psychological development. This is a very serious crime. There is a clear need to denounce your conduct and impose punishment, which will act as a deterrent not only to you but to others.”
Justice Beckles found aggravating the nature and gravity of the offence, the victim’s tender age, the prevalence of such offences in society, the disparity in ages between the convicted man and the complainant, the degree of force used, the impact on the child, and her being exposed to sexually transmitted diseases. She then deducted one year from the 15-year starting sentence for the delay in adjudication and his “albeit late apology”.
The judge expressed concern regarding some of the contents of his pre-sentence and psychological reports, highlighting his revelation that he consumed marijuana and alcohol on a daily basis and had sought to blame his actions on this and the victim.
“While you maintain that it was not problematic, you attributed the offence now before the court partially to you being intoxicated. You have partly accepted responsibility for your actions although your explanation of the circumstances is of concern since you sought to blame the complainant despite her extremely young age as well as her mother along with alcohol intoxication. You therefore do not accept full culpability for the offence.”
Justice Beckles noted that Marshall was deemed as posing low risk of non-sexual reoffending and a below average risk of sexual recidivism.
She added that in his psychological report, the convicted man was found to be of low average intelligence and to have a limited recognition of the scope of his challenges and that the psychologist noted while Marshall acknowledged that he did engage in a sexual act with the victim, he described the act as “very brief” and that he believed that the entire episode was orchestrated by others.
Reading from the report, the judge said: “He did not appreciate the seriousness of the offence nor did he demonstrate any awareness of how harmful and inappropriate his actions were. Based on his representation of the case, the accused seemed to view himself as a victim and the only injured party.”
Justice Beckles ordered that Marshall undergo psychological and counselling programmes recommended by the prison psychologist and to enrol in any available skills or vocational programmes at the prison.
Addressing the No. 5 Supreme Court before the sentence was read, Marshall said: “Even though I feel 100 per cent innocent, I accept the consequences. Being in jail because of this case gave me time to speak to God. He said he has work for me to do. It made me close to God and I give thanks for that more than anything else in the world. I apologise to the family that put me here and I hope that they accept my apology cause I feel I deserve something cause I do good to these people that got me here.”
As he was led away, one of his relatives sank to the floor and began crying before being led out of the courtroom.
State Counsel Maya Kellman appeared for the State, while defence attorneys Dennis Headley and Shenelle Wharton represented Marshall.
(JB)
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