How court ruling enabled child rapist

Cecil Brown got off with a slap on the wrist three years ago after he was convicted for sexual assault involving a five-year-old child.

Brown, 54, was sentenced to six months in prison for grievous assault in the Clarendon Parish Court on July 14, 2017, but the judge ordered that the punishment be suspended for three years.

At the time of the sentencing, the Clarendon man had three previous convictions – for assault occasioning bodily harm, unlawful wounding, and shop-breaking.

Less than three weeks after his release, he held down a then 13-year-old girl inside his home over two days and forcibly had sex with her twice. Now, he is going to prison for almost two decades.

Two weeks ago, according to court records obtained by The Gleaner, he was sentenced in the Clarendon Circuit Court to 18 years in prison at hard labour for the attack on the now 15-year-old victim.

He pleaded guilty on July 28 this year to the offence of having sexual intercourse with a person below the age of 16, records show.

The name of the community where the incident occurred is being withheld to protect the identity of the victim and her family.

According to the evidence presented to the court, the then 13-year-old and her family had just returned home from church on Sunday, October 1, 2017, when an adopted sibling accused her of stealing $1,000.

Her mother was in the process of taking her to the police station when the child ran away and hid in bushes. She reportedly came upon a house and was approached by a man she identified as Brown, who invited her inside.

He had sex with her that evening then left the following day after padlocking her inside the house. According to the evidence, he returned Monday afternoon and again had sexual intercourse with the then 13-year-old.

Her disappearance set off a frantic search by residents and the police after relatives raised an alarm and filed a missing-person report.

The ordeal ended that Wednesday after the 13-year-old managed to peer out a window and cry for help. She was rescued by a passer-by who broke down the door to the house.

The Gleaner was unable to get details about the case of the five-year-old child Brown sexually assaulted.

Brown’s case comes to light amid complaints by the police and the wider society about perceived light sentences being imposed by judges.