A young woman who was indecently assaulted when she was 13 told a court she had been left hurt, with damaged self-esteem and a lack of trust in the opposite sex ever since.
Six years later, she continues to try to process what happened to her and why, but often pushes it to the back of her mind, she told the No. 4 Supreme Court.
“It is something I put in the back of my head mentally. I am trying to cope with it,” she said, acknowledging that she was willing to receive counselling she never had.
Moments later, in their sentencing submissions, both prosecution and defence attorneys urged the court to order Vincent Wilkinson to pay $10 000 in compensation to the female for the assault to allow her to receive this help.
Wilkinson had previously pleaded guilty in the No. 4 Supreme Court to indecently assaulting the young teen between September 1 and 30, 2019.
Noting that the maximum penalty was five years, Principal State Counsel Joyann Catwell highlighted several aggravating factors, including the complainant’s young age, that the convicted man had been 59 years old at the time, the trauma caused, and the prevalence of such offences in society.
The prosecutor said: “Violence against women remains devastatingly pervasive and starts alarmingly young, shows new data from WHO and partners. Across their lifetime, one in three women, around 736 million, are subjected to physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner – a number that has remained largely unchanged over the past decade. This violence starts early: one in four young women, aged 15–24 years, who have been in a relationship will have already experienced violence by an intimate partner by the time they reach their mid-20s.”
Catwell said the mitigating factors were that he was found to be at low to medium risk of reoffending, had expressed remorse, and lacked previous convictions.
She reached a three-year starting point and said that Wilkinson should be given the relevant discounts.
The prosecutor then said: “In light of the request of the complainant, it is the State’s submission that the now convicted man pay compensation in the sum of $10 000 to the complainant. Bearing in mind that the complainant did not receive counselling, this money can be used to assist with meeting the costs of counselling and any other intervention to assist with her coping with what happened. If the compensation is not paid, then the now convicted man should serve the period of imprisonment.”
Wilkinson’s counsel, Dennis Headley, urged the court not to consider incarceration, insisting that there were alternative ways for the matter to be dealt with.
Also agreeing that his client should pay $10 000 in compensation, he requested that the convicted man be allowed to pay a portion immediately and the remaining balance in installments.
The post Left hurt with a lack of trust after indecent assault appeared first on Barbados Today.
