Granduncle’s molestation case postponed
Published:Thursday | June 10, 2021 | 12:16 AMAdrian Frater/News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
Yesterday’s first court appearance by a Hanover man who allegedly sexually molested his 15-year-old grandniece was a non-starter as the matter was postponed until Friday to facilitate an ongoing case in the Lucea-based Hanover Parish Court.
“The matter was postponed today because of other court matters, so he is rescheduled to go back to court on Friday,” said Hanover’s police commander Sharon Beeput. “He remains in custody, pending that court appearance.”
The accused man, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the child, was arrested last week and slapped with the charges.
The alleged incident has since mushroomed into another molestation case, resulting from the child reportedly being fondled by a male nursing assistant while hospitalised after trying to end her life.
The granduncle had reportedly been molesting the child since she was 10 years old. Frustrated by her ordeal, the child recently took an overdose of pills in an attempt to kill herself.
It was as a result of the failed suicide attempt that the mother became aware of her ordeal and reported the matter to the police, which resulted in the arrest and charge of the granduncle.
The child was then hospitalised at the Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea, where she was reportedly assaulted one night by 45-year-old nursing assistant Damion Bigby. She reported the matter to her mother and nurses at the hospital and Bigby was arrested.
Bigby, who is facing a charge of indecent assault, appeared before Parish Judge Winsome Henry last Thursday and was remanded until his next court appearance on June 29.
A total of five rape cases have come to the fore in Hanover since the start of the year, eight fewer than the comparative period last year.