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Mocha man found guilty of raping underage girl
A young girl was served justice yesterday when a man accused of raping her multiple times was found guilty by a jury.
Guilty of raping underage girl: Jegede Hodge
The man, Jegede Hodge, 48, of Mocha, East Bank Demerara, was found guilty on four counts of rape of a child under 16 years of age. The verdicts were all unanimous. Hodge first engaged in sexual penetration with the child between May 1 and 31, 2014, when she was just 13. Again, he did it between September 1 and 30, 2014. When the young girl turned 14 in 2015, he raped her between January 21 and December 31 of that year. In 2017, when she turned 16, Hodge again raped her between September 1 and 30.
Hodge now awaits sentencing which has been adjourned until Thursday, December 12, as his lawyer, Ravindra Mohabir requested that a probation report be compiled on him. In the meantime, he has been remanded to the Camp Street Prison.
Social Worker Semone Gaskin presented a victim impact statement on behalf of the rape survivor. The young girl related that when she was first raped she felt traumatized and wanted to kill herself as she thought it was her fault. She said that she was in so much pain that many nights she cried herself to sleep. She told the probation officer that she eventually confided in her friends about what had happened and warned them to keep it a secret.
Further, the rape survivor expressed that her mother did not believe her when she told her that Hodge had been molesting her. As a result of this, the young girl said that she and her mother do not share a close relationship. According to her, Hodge would come and pick her up from school and take her “all over the place” where he would have sex with her. She said that on many occasions she begged him to use a condom as she did not want to become pregnant at an early age. As a result of what happened to her, the girl related that persons in her community began taunting her.
Teriq Mohammed, Tuanna Hardy and Nafeeza Baig presented the case for the State, during which they called several witnesses. Hodge’s trial was heard before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Sexual Offences Court in Demerara.
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