A CORENTYNE, Berbice man was granted $150,000 bail by Magistrate Marissa Mittzleholzer for the offence of rape, which he allegedly committed on his 13-year-old step-daughter.

The 43-year-old Carpenter, who will not be named in order to protect the identity of the victim, appeared at the Albion Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and was not required to plead to the charge. It is alleged that he engaged in sexual penetration with the child between August 2016 and February 2017. The man was represented by Attorney-at-Law, Chandra Sohan.

Meanwhile, after hearing that the accused was granted bail, the mother of the victim broke down in tears at the court and had to be consoled by her 16-year-old son.

“It is heart-rending…What will I tell my daughter now? It’s really sad and heartbreaking even in this court system you cannot get justice,” the woman said.

This newspaper had previously reported that the teenager was allegedly raped four times by the man and the mother had accused the police and the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) of dragging their feet on the matter and it wasn’t until this newspaper broke the story that they started to act swiftly.

The mother had accused the police of deliberately stymieing the process given the fact that some ranks and the man are friends, who had assisted him in removing his belongings from the house with a vehicle from the Guyana Police Force.

The teen had told her mother of the rape on February 23, 2017. According to the mother, her daughter told her she cannot live in the house anymore and after she inquired the reason for such a decision, the teenager made the revelation. The teen pleaded with her mother not to confront the alleged rapist, since he threatened to kill the family if she told anyone.

According to the mother, her daughter said she was in the shower when the step-father attempted to force his way in but she managed to push him away; however he later made his way into her bedroom where he forced her to have sex.

“She told me when he came in the bedroom she begged him not to do it but he told her its ok he did it to her older sister and two of his daughters, even as she pleaded with him to stop.”

The 40-year-old mother of four explained that despite her daughter pleas, she confronted the accused about what her daughter related, he initially denied it and accused the teen of lying. However, when the mother continued to press the issue, the man reportedly whipped out a cutlass and threatened to kill her and the entire family.

A struggle ensued and in the aftermath the woman suffer a chop to the shoulder which was meant for her head. The woman recalled that she started to scream, after which neighbours gathered and took her to the police station in her bloodied state, where she was made to wait for over an hour before anyone took her report.