A UNANIMOUS guilty verdict from a 12-member jury shook accused Milton Kewley in the sexual offenses courtroom at the Georgetown High Court on Monday, and on Tuesday he was handed a life sentence for raping a 13-year-old back in 2013.

It was alleged that on August 22, 2013 in the county of Demerara, Kewley sexually molested a 13-year-old boy, who is well known to him. Kewley, however, after hearing his fate professed his innocence and even attempted to send threats to the jury. “I’m innocent. This whole thing is a fabrication and the jury made a mistake… I would never have sex with any male. I’m not attracted to men,” the accused said on Monday.

Adding to that, he spoke of God as his witness and that the jury putting an innocent person in prison will result in judgment from his God. This left the entire courtroom appalled, even the judge. The accused who went on to lament his sentence said that the victim’s mother had a personal vendetta against him and had threatened him with incarceration on several occasions.

But in response to his cry of innocence, State Prosecutor Lisa Cave reminded the court of the offence and said that a message ought to be sent out to society. She reiterated that the child was placed in Kewley’s care and how he violated his position of trust. As such, she urged the judge to pass a sentence that will send the message of the court’s zero tolerance of such brutal crime.

Kewley’s defence attorney Maxwell McKay was asked by Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, the presiding judge, whether he would request a probation report. But McKay responded that he does not believe a probation report is necessary. He told the court that the accused is 50 years old, a father of two boys and one girl and is a member of the Universal Church. It was at that point that the judge remanded the accused and scheduled his sentencing for Tuesday.

The court returned on Tuesday in anticipation of the judge’s decision in tempering justice for the gruesome act. Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry stated that according to the evidence, the accused was visited by the boy on the day in question to collect some clothing that the accused claimed he had bought for him. Upon entering a room in the house to try on the clothing, Kewley locked the door and started touching the boy inappropriately, and proceeded to indulge in sexual activity with the child for about five minutes.

The boy who was traumatised, scared and ashamed of what was done to him, kept his silence until the accused attempted to repeat the act in October of the said year. In handing down her judgement, the judge stated she arrived at the sentence while keeping in mind that the accused remained unremorseful throughout the trial. He was adamant that he was innocent without supporting evidence, she said.

“He was 32 years senior to the victim and violated his position of trust. He was a police officer and a counselor for suicide and HIV/AIDS, and instead of nurturing the boy into becoming the best that he can be, he committed an “abominable offence on the child,” the judge added.