A seemingly unremorseful 38-year-old, Thurston Semple, was, on Thursday, sentenced to 11 years in prison for raping and brutally assaulting a 30-year-old Venezuelan woman, a self-proclaimed sex worker, in 2021.

Semple, a taxi driver formerly of Tucville Terrace, Georgetown, was sentenced by Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in the Sexual Offences Court of the Demerara High Court.

In March, a 12-member jury at the Demerara Sexual Offences Court found Semple guilty of sexually penetrating the woman against her will between February 24 and 25, 2021. The jury also found Semple guilty of assaulting the woman and causing her actual bodily harm.

Prosecutors Muntaz Ali, Latifah Elliot, and Nafeeza Baig presented the state’s case, while attorney Everton Lammy-Singh was on record for Semple.

On Thursday, Forensic Psychiatrist, Dr. Meena Rajkumar presented a report of a complete psychiatric and psychological interview she conducted with Semple at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Psychiatric Clinic.

“He [Semple] was functioning at a psychopathic level and understood the nature of his interview.

“As personality traits, manipulation stands out; he portrays an angry temperament, has an extremely high self-esteem, and doesn’t recognize his mistakes.

“He has demonstrated signs of impulsive aggression, without other signs or symptoms that qualitatively affect his psychological organisation. He has shown no sign of remorse for his actions on the day of the offence. He gave a detailed explanation of the offence and presents himself as a victim and blames third parties for his current situation,” Dr. Rajkumar told the court.

Based on the doctor’s findings, Semple presents an “accentuated personality” trait to the point that he is placed as having an “antisocial personality disorder.”

She further disclosed that Semple’s assessment shows a tendency to disregard right and wrong, arrogance, a sense of superiority, and being extremely opinionated.

The doctor said that based on her opinion, Semple shows recurring problems with the law, including criminal behaviour, and repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty.

Despite these diagnoses, Dr. Rajkumar did not recommend that Semple undergo any treatment.

Semple rejected the psychiatrist’s findings, claiming that there was nothing wrong with him. He said that the victim’s case against him was fabricated and he is innocent.

“The whole case is lies. Since I’m in jail, I’ve learned a lot. This is injustice. I didn’t do any of these things. I ain’t do no crime, so what am I doing time for? I’m being assaulted in jail because of lies… God knows my heart,” Semple said.

While delivering her sentencing remarks, the judge told the court that, among other things, she considered that Semple showed no remorse for his actions and that he could have exposed the victim to sexually transmitted diseases since he did not use a condom during the rape.

She also placed weight on the finding of Semple’s psychiatric report and the psychological trauma the incident had caused the victim.

In addition to the 11 years in prison for the rape, he received four years for the assault. However, the sentences will run concurrently and Semple will only serve 11 years.

She also ordered that Semple undergo psychological counselling.

Previously, the victim, in her impact statement, said that she was left to live with the stigma associated with sex crimes and is still suffering from the trauma of the incident.

“… Months have passed since I was savagely beaten and raped by that monster and I still can’t sleep well.

“I have a lot of fear, anger, hatred, and helplessness… I wish he never got out of jail again. I want and hope that he will be locked up for life so that he cannot hurt anyone else,” the survivor said.

The woman explained that she was mercilessly beaten by Semple, who destroyed her life.

“In all my life, no one gave me a beating like the one that man gave me. No one made me live such desperate and horrible moments. That man destroyed me. I feel that nothing matters anymore, that my life has no meaning. I need help; to be compensated for the evil I received,” she said.

The victim had testified that she worked as a sex worker and Semple picked her up from a city hotel and took her to his home after agreeing to pay her $10,000. They later had consensual sexual intercourse at his home.

He became annoyed when she told him that he had 15 minutes remaining with her. Semple then walked into the kitchen and returned with a knife. At that time, the woman was dressing.

Semple held the woman at knifepoint and forced her to perform oral sex on him. When she stopped sometime later, he slapped her.

When he turned away to get the water she had asked for, the woman scrambled whatever clothes she could find and jumped through a glass window.

However, Semple ran behind her and grabbed her by her hair. The victim recounted that she was naked and that Semple held on to her and stabbed her.

She managed to hold on to the knife. The enraged Semple began beating her with a plastic tube filled with cement.

The victim subsequently gathered strength and jumped the fence and persons came to her rescue. Sometime after, the police came and arrested Semple.

In his probation report, the social worker said that information retrieved from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Guyana Police Force revealed that Semple has four other pending criminal matters of similar nature against him that are engaging the attention of the courts.

Investigations in the Tucville Terrace community, where Semple resided before his incarceration, disclosed that he was a violent and abusive individual who habitually had school-aged girls frequenting his home since he lived alone.

Persons in the community told the probation officer that they never trusted Semple being in the company of their girl children.

“Irrespective of one’s intentions, criminal acts committed against anyone must not be condoned. And it is against such a backdrop that stern messages should be sent, to serve as deterrents as to how society views such matters.

“This case is no different, therefore the punishment must be commensurate with the crime, hence the accused must be made to stand the consequences of his actions,” the social worker had previously submitted to the court.