Man on trial for carnal knowledge of stepdaughter
THE trial of Cecil Romeo, of Parika Back Dam, East Bank Essequibo, who has been indicted for having carnal knowledge of his 13-year old stepdaughter, began yesterday before Justice Winston Patterson and a mixed Demerara Assizes jury. The accused, who is conducting his own defence, has pleaded not guilty to the offence, allegedly committed in August 2007.
Senior Probation and Social Services Officer for Child Protection, Conduta Gray, testified that she had visited to assess their home environment when the girl told her something.
The witness said, because of what was reported to her, she accompanied the teen to Parika Police Station, where the girl gave a similar statement, stating that her stepfather Romeo would have sex with her whenever her mother was drunk.
The probation officer said she went with the girl and the police to the Regional Hospital where the teenager was examined by a doctor, who issued a medical certificate certifying “active sex” on the part of the girl, who was, subsequently, taken into protective care.
At that stage Justice Patterson enquired from the probation officer what caused her to visit the girl’s mother’s home and the witness replied that the mother and the daughter were found begging on the street.
As a result, the Child Protection Agency visited to see their environment and what assistance could be offered to them.
The witness told the judge that, on the day when she visited, the mother was present looking after her six children, including the victim.
The trial is continuing.