CONVICTED ex-police constables Delon Chapman and Leon Ashby were on Thursday sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for raping a woman in 2018, when she went to report a matter at the Turkeyen Police Station.

The men were sentenced by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow in the Sexual Offences Court of the Demerara High Court. In September, a jury found them guilty of engaging in sexual penetration with the woman on January 1, 2018, in the County of Demerara.

During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, the men’s attorney, Ravindra Mohabir pleaded with the court to consider that both of his clients are fathers and have families to support.
The lawyer said that Chapman, 29, and Ashby, 35, are still young and can be rehabilitated.

However, Chapman and Ashby, during their address to the court, maintained their innocence and claimed that they were not given a fair trial.

Chapman told the court, “I just want to say that I am innocent, and if this matter ever retry again, I just want y’all to understand that none of this happened.”

Meanwhile, Ashby has signalled his intention of appealing his conviction and sentence.

State Prosecutor Sarah Martin urged the judge to consider the seriousness and prevalence of sexual offences in today’s society, along with the fact that the crime was committed by then law enforcement officers who were supposed to “protect and serve” citizens.

Justice Barlow, in her sentencing remarks, told the court that she took into consideration the circumstances, such as the breach of the victim’s trust.
The judge also said she considered the traumatic impact the incident had left on the victim, and also the fact that the ex-cops showed no remorse for their actions.

Justice Barlow then sentenced the convicts to 25 years in prison, and ordered that they be exposed to counselling for sex offenders.

According to reports, on the day in question, the victim went to the police station to file a report, and while there, she asked to use the washroom, and was taken to the facility by Chapman.

It was while she was using the washroom that she was attacked by Chapman, and later joined by Ashby, who took her into a room with a mattress and raped her.

The matter was reported to the other ranks on duty, and the two men were later arrested and charged.