TROY Jackson was on Wednesday sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall in the Sexual Offences Court at the Georgetown High Court, after a 12-member jury found him guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a child under the age of 16. He will be eligible for parole after serving eight years.

In handing down her sentence, the judge told the court that having considered the nature of the offence and the circumstances under which it was committed, there was a breach of trust in which the grandmother of the victim trusted the offender.

Justice Morris-Ramlall however, considered the prevalence of the offence and the age of the child who was just seven years old at the time, noting that the Child Care and Protection Agency reported that 841 children were sexually abused in 2017.

The judge also took into consideration the offender attorney’s plea of mitigation, but noted that there was a lack of remorse in which he did not want to express himself to the court.

Justice Morris-Ramlall stated that even though the offence did not involve any penetration, the maximum sentence was 10 years and as such, she gave him nine years.
Meanwhile, in his plea of mitigation, Adrian Thompson told the court that his client was 23 years old and was living at Republic Street, Newtown, Kitty, before the incident and got married on February 26, 2018.

He added that from his conversation with him (Jackson), he realised that the offender had mental issues, a speech impediment and was a bit slow. His mother died when he was only six years old and his father passed away when he was 11 years old.

The offender grew up with foster parents and he had benefited only from primary education. He worked as a security guard, had no ‘priors’ and was employed as a porter at the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

Thompson told the court that the offender was of good character before the incident and had an unblemished record, which should be considered. His client was unable to express himself to the court, but indicated that he was remorseful and asked for mercy.

Celeste Mullins, of Child Link Guyana/Court Support who spoke on behalf of the victim, said that she felt hurt by the incident and was afraid of seeing the offender again after what he did to her.

The victim is often reminded of the incident and feels that the offender should be punished for what he did to her.

On Tuesday, a 12-member jury after deliberating for more than two hours, had found Troy Jackson guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a child under the age of 16.
After the verdict was announced, a crying Troy Jackson was escorted out of the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs to jail.

However, his attorney Adrian Thompson was not present at the time the verdict was announced. As such, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall told the court that sentencing would take place today (Wednesday) at 11:00hrs in the Sexual Offences Court Six.

The foreman said the verdict was in the proportion of 10 to 2, after which they arrived at a guilty verdict.

It is alleged that on October 20, 2016, the accused engaged in sexual activity with a child under age 16 years old in the county of Demerara.

He had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

It is alleged that on the day in question, he committed the act with a child who was only seven years old at the time.

The accused Troy Jackson was a family friend of the child’s family and had resided with them for a few years, but at the time of the incident he was not living with them.

The state was represented by Seeta Bishundyal, Orinthia Schmidt and Narissa Leander, while the defence counsel is Adrian Thompson.