…court orders probation report

MORRIS Johnson, 41, a taxi driver of Linden, was on Tuesday found guilty by a 12-member jury  for raping a 22-year-old girl in 2017 at Linden.

Johnson was on trial before Justice Brassington Reynolds at the Demerara High Court for engaging in sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 between  August 12, 2017 and August 13,2019, at Linden.

Johnson was represented by attorney-at-law Ronald Burch-Smith, while the state was represented by prosecutors Abigail Gibbs and Seeta Bishundial.
The matter has been adjourned until August 26, 2019, for presentation of a probation report on Johnson , before  Justice Reynolds imposes sentence.

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 22:00hrs in an effort to get to her home in Linden.

However, upon reaching her home, the taxi driver passed the stop 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 was wearing the seat belt.

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,Linden  where she was left to walk home.

The victim’s family, who were said to have been looking for her after the friends with whom she had shared the taxi alerted them as to what had happened, 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 had indeed ben sexually assaulted and Johnson was later arrested and charged.