OMADAT Persaud, called “Roshi”, who is currently serving 45 years for raping a five-year-old girl, on Thursday, had his sentence reduced to 25 years by the Guyana Court of Appeal.

In January 2018, Persaud had been found guilty of sexually penetrating a child between August 1 and 31, 2015.

The jury had returned the unanimous guilty verdict after a little more than two hours of deliberation, and the 45 years’ sentence was imposed by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Demerara High Court.

The Judge also ordered that Persaud serve 35 years before he could become eligible for parole.

In his appeal documents, the convict claimed that the trial judge erred in law and that the sentence was excessive and too severe.

As such, he asked the court to reserve and/or set aside his conviction and sentence.

The appeal was heard by Chancellor (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards, and Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud.

The court affirmed Persaud’s conviction but reduced his sentence to 25 years with the possibility of parole after serving 15 years.

It was ordered that the time Persaud spent in pre-trial custody will be deducted from his sentence.