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Appeal Court upholds 28-year sentence for child rapist
Kaieteur News – The Court of Appeal on Monday dismissed an Application by a convicted child rapist to have his 28-year jail sentence overturned.
The convicted rapist, Colvin Norton, approached the Court of Appeal through his attorney Dexter Todd to have his conviction and sentence overturned because of what he considered to be the inadequacy of the victim’s medical report.
In April 2018, Norton was jailed after being found unanimously guilty by a Jury of the offence of engaging in sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16.
The charges against Norton had stated that he sexually penetrated a six-year-old girl on August 1 and 6, 2013. Norton was 19-years-old at the time.
Colvin Norton
According to the facts of the case, on the first occasion, the victim and her siblings were left in Norton’s care at their home while their mother went out. He raped the child and threatened to kill her and her mother, should she reveal what he had done.
The child feared for her life but subsequently confided in someone about what had happened. On the second occasion, Norton was caught in the act by the victim’s mother.
The victim’s impact statement said that she suffers from post-traumatic flashbacks which she said has adversely affected her performance at school.
The matter was heard before trial Judge, Jo Ann Barlow who sentenced Norton to 24 years in prison on the first rape charge and sentenced him to four additional years on the second charge. The additional four years, which took the sentence to 28 years, was handed down for aggravating factors. The two sentences were ordered to be served concurrently.
Meanwhile, in his appeal, Norton’s Attorney asked the Court to re- examine the medical evidence used to convict his client and contended, among other things, that the records were inadequate and allowed for speculation by the jury.
However, Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Cummings-Edwards, who was unanimously supported by Justices Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory, in reading the decision, said that medical reports submitted as evidence to the Court, clearly showed that the child suffered injuries consistent with rape.
“There was redness, swelling, and abrasions to the vagina which can only be caused by something big being forced into something very small,” The Chancellor said dismissing the arguments submitted by Norton’s Attorney.
Further, the Chancellor made it clear that Norton’s Application to the court was denied because the court has found no evidence to support his claim.
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