Man gets 78 months in prison for sexual intercourse with a minor

Richie Thomas, a 28-year old man from a southern community, is now spending six years six months at the Stock Farm State Prison for unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl who was 12 years 10 months old at the time of the assault in 2018.

Trial judge Justice Wynante Adrien-Roberts imposed her sentence on Thomas when he arrived for his sentence at the Roseau High Court on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

The case of unlawful sexual intercourse and indecent assault against Thomas was heard by a jury of seven women and two men who heard from six witnesses on May 19 and May 28, 2021. The judge set the sentencing hearing for July 5 pending a social inquiry report by the Welfare Division.

State Attorney Daina Matthew prosecuted the case for the state while Counsel Peter Alleyne of the Legal Aid Clinic conducted the defense for Thomas.

According to evidence in the case, the girl was walking on her way home from school on Monday, January 29, 2018, when she heard the accused walking behind her. Thomas intercepted the girl by putting his hands on the shoulder of the virtual complainant, steered her towards a nearby shack, and there assaulted her.

The mother took her daughter to the police station to make a report and from there went to the Grand Bay Hospital where she was examined by a medical professional.

The virtual complainant was taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital and admitted. She was examined by Consultant Gynaecologist Dr. K Ferreira.

Judge Adrien-Roberts noted that the offense of unlawful sexual intercourse carried a maximum prison term of 25 years, and her starting point would be 10 years six months.

After going through the steps of arriving at an appropriate sentence, looking at the mitigating and aggravating factors, Judge Adrien-Roberts sentenced Thomas to six years six months at the Dominica State Prison.