SEON Bacchus was on Wednesday freed of a rape charge by the Sexual Offences Court of the Demerara High Court, after the jury returned a not-guilty verdict.
Bacchus, 50, was on trial before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow for allegedly engaging in sexual activity with a six-year-old girl on July 27, 2018, at a location on the East Bank of Demerara.

He was represented by attorney Clyde Forde, while the state’s case was presented by prosecutors Teriq Mohammed and Mandel Moore.

The jury returned a unanimous verdict.
Madam Justice Barlow told Bacchus to consider it a second chance and that he must use the opportunity to avoid finding himself in similar situations and before the court.
The judge also advised the prosecutors to continue providing support and counselling to the victim.

It was alleged that during the period mentioned in the charge, the child was left in Bacchus’s care and he committed the act while the child’s mother was out. The child however informed her mother about the incident when she (mother) returned; the mother then reported the matter to the police.