MORRIS Johnson was on Monday charged with rape of a child under the age of 16 when he appeared at the Linden Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Clive Nurse.

Johnson plead not guilty and was remanded until October 16.
It is alleged that he raped a 12-year-old girl from Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) on the evening of Saturday, August 12, 2017.
Reports are that the child, who attended an event with three of her friends, caught a taxi referred to as ‘$100 car’ or ‘short-drop car’ at Co-op Crescent, Mackenzie,around 22:00h in an effort to get to her home at Amelia’s Ward, Linden.

However, upon reaching Amelia’s Ward, the taxi driver passed the stops where the child and her friends were expected to get out.
The three friends, who were seated in the back seat, reportedly forced their way out of the car, leaving behind the victim, who was sitting in the front passenger seat and had the seat belt on.
It’s alleged that after her friends had taken their leave, the child was then taken to a ‘back road’ area at Lower Kara Kara by the taxi driver where she was forced out of the vehicle and sexually assaulted.
When he was done, the suspect then dropped the victim off at the Kara Kara Bridge, where she was left to walk home.

The family of the victim, who were said to be looking for her after the friends she had shared the taxi with alerted them as to what had transpired, took her to the Police Station and subsequently to the Linden Hospital for a medical examination.
The results of the medical examination proved that the victim was sexually assaulted.