A 72-year-old man from St. Catherine was sentenced to an accumulated 60 years in prison on Thursday for sexually assaulting his three step-granddaughters. However, the farmer, who was not identified by name, will effectively serve only a fraction of that time in prison.
According to reports, the farmer raped his 11-year-old step-granddaughter multiple times between 2018 and 2019. After sexually assaulting her, the man warned her not to tell anyone what happened.
The 11-year-old said that she initially did not tell anyone because she was “embarrassed” and afraid that she would be punished. However, she later confessed to her mother after she asked her.
It was further revealed that the farmer fondled his 6-year-old step-granddaughter on two separate occasions between 2020 and 2021. He also raped the minor twice on her grandmother’s bed.
Reports state that a relative of the child’s mother noticed the child’s sensitivity while she was being bathed. The relative questioned the child, and the abuse was later reported.
The third step-grandchild that the farmer abused was seven years old at the time he sexually assaulted her. The minor shared that she was getting dressed for school and was just about to put on her underwear when she was accosted by the man.
He told the minor to lie down on the bed and proceeded to assault her. When the 7-year-old reported the incident to her grandmother, the woman confronted her spouse. While she threatened to call the police if he ever did it again, she never reported it to the authorities.
After the incidents were eventually reported, the farmer was indicted on five counts of rape and two counts of sexual touching. Supreme Court judge Justice Bertram Morrison sentenced the farmer to 10 years on each of the five counts of rape and five years each on the two counts of sexual touching. As the sentences will run concurrently, the farmer will serve the longest sentence that was handed down, 10 years.
According to the probation aftercare officer, the grandmother pleaded for the court to return her husband to the community. Reports state that one of the children who was questioned in the presence of the grandmother asked the court to forgive him. The minor also expressed that she felt sad about what happened and still thinks about the different times she was assaulted.
Despite the pleas of the grandmother, the child’s mother and father were strongly in favour of the farmer serving a long prison sentence.
