Latest update January 1st, 2025 1:00 AM
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Man gets 28 years for raping girl, 6, left in his care
Twenty four year-old Colvin Norton was yesterday sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment of 28 years after a jury found him guilty of raping a six-year-old girl on two separate occasions in 2013.
Convicted rapist: Colvin Norton
It was revealed by trial judge Jo Ann Barlow, that Norton—who was 19 years of age at the time of the commissioning of the offences—was left to take care of the young girl and her siblings while there mother was out.
The jurors found Norton unanimously guilty on both counts of the offence.
On August 1, 2013 and August 6, 2013, respectively, Norton engaged in sexual penetration with the underage girl.
Both acts were committed in the county of Demerara. Norton was jailed for 24 and 28 years on the first and second counts respectively. The prison terms are to be served concurrently.
The convict had no legal representation throughout the trial. The case for the state was presented by Prosecutors Abigail Gibbs and Tiffini Lyken.
Testifying in court yesterday was Celeste Mullin, a counsellor at ChildLink Guyana.
The counsellor took an impact statement from the rape survivor, who she said, told her about her feelings towards the incident. According to Mullin, the young girl told her that at first, she felt sad and ashamed of what happened to her and that she felt responsible for it. The rape survivor told the counsellor that whenever she reflected on the incident she would shout at anyone. Now that Norton has been convicted, Mullin related that the young girl expressed that she feels as though a weight has been lifted off her back.
Norton was reluctant to say anything to the court after he was convicted even after given two opportunities to do so.
In calculating a sentence for the convicted rapist, Justice Barlow took into consideration the aggravating circumstances. The judge underlined that like a thief in the night Norton went into the home and violated the young child who was left in his care by her mother. The judge pointed out that Norton, after molesting the young child, tried to silence her by telling her not to say anything to her mother, who he warned would kill both of them.
Nevertheless, the trial judge ordered that Norton undergo rehabilitation for sexual offenders during his time in incarceration so that he will be of meaningful contribution to society when he is discharged from prison.
He was also ordered to undergo training programs to help improve his literacy after telling the court that could not read and write properly.
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