SCHOOL bus driver Collin Caesar, aged 48 years, appeared before New Amsterdam Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs Marcus, charged with raping a 14-year-old school girl.

He was not required to plead to the charge, but was ordered to post $175,000 bail, and to stay twenty feet from the complainant. Moreover, he is to report to the station sergeant or a senior police officer at the Central Police Station once per fortnight.

The accused, a contracted bus driver, would transport students to and from schools in Berbice, leaving from his Lot 504 Fort Ordinance home in East Canje.
On May 20 last, at about 10:45hrs, teachers spotted the alleged victim exiting the bus the accused drives.
She was summoned to the staff room of her school and was questioned by teachers in relation to her lateness. They were informed that she had gone to a stationery store to complete her School-Based Assessment assignment. However, further enquiries led to the disclosure of a cellular phone in her possession which had several text messages of a sexual nature coming from a particular number, which was later discovered to belong to the suspect.

After the victim’s mother was summoned, it was discovered that she had returned from school the previous day to find her parents not at home. She contacted her father and was instructed to stay at the suspect’s home. Having complied, she was in the company of the suspect’s wife when the suspect asked her to accompany him to fill water further in the street. There, he fondled her prior to engaging in penetrative sexual intercourse with her against her will.
Consequent to the revelation, a report was made to the Central Police Station, after which the girl was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where a medical certificate supporting her claim was issued.

It was reported that the suspect had given the complainant the cellular phone which he allegedly used to send her text messages with sexual content.

The case is fixed for statements on August 8.