Mocha resident challenges 25-year jail sentence

Jan 09, 2020 News

Mocha, East Bank Demerara resident, Jegede Hodge, has moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge a 25 years’ jail sentence imposed on him after he was found guilty by a jury for engaging in sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16.

GUILTY: Jegede Hodge

On December 12, 2019, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall imposed sentences of 18, 20, 22 and 25 years on Hodge after he was convicted on four counts. The judge, however, ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
According to the indictments presented by State Prosecutors Teriq Mohammed and Nafeeza Baig, Hodge first engaged in sexual activity with the child between May 1 and May 31, 2014, when she was just 13. Again, he did it between September 1 and September 30, 2014.
When the young girl turned 14 in 2015, he again engaged in sexual penetration with her between January 21 and December 31 of that year. In 2017, when she turned 16, Hodge again did the act between September 1 and September 30.
In a statement to the court, the young girl expressed that when she was first raped, she felt traumatised 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.
At the announcement of the jury’s verdicts, Hodge said, “I am very, very sorry about this. I hope everyone can forgive me.” However, the trial Judge deemed his statements “unequivocal and inconsistent” when compared to what he said in a probation report in which he maintained his innocence.
In the same probation report, Hodge was described as a very hardworking and respectful individual by his relatives and workmates.
Apart from the custodial sentence, the court ordered that Hodge is to undergo counselling for persons convicted of sexual offences.

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