Court of Appeal orders retrial of child rapist

May 26, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Court of Appeal on Wednesday ordered a retrial of accused child rapist, Sheldon Lynch who is seeking to have two convictions for rape overturned.

Sheldon Lynch

The Appeal Court ruled that Lynch’s conviction was faulty, since his defence in relation to the rape of two girls was not put to the jury. Chancellor of Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards in handing down the decision, noted that Lynch’s alibi was not considered when the jury was being directed on the evidence before it.

As such, Justice Cummings-Edwards said that Lynch’s case will be returned to the High Court for a fresh trial at the next sitting of the Demerara Criminal Assizes. The man whose last known address was given as Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, was convicted by a 12-member jury of engaging in sexual penetration of an 11-year-old girl on August 22, 2015, and was imprisoned for life, without the possibility of parole.

It was reported that on the day in question, Lynch, known to the child, had forced himself on the then 11-year-old. Following the incident, the girl told her mother what had transpired, and the mother reported the matter to the police. Thus, Lynch was arrested and later charged.

In a separate matter in 2018, Lynch was found guilty of raping a 10-year-old girl on two different occasions between December 2010 and November 2011. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms, and must spend a minimum of 35 years in prison on each of the two convictions, before being paroled. In handing down the sentences following the trial for the 10-year -old victim, Justice Simone Ramlall took into consideration the nature of the offences and the circumstances under which they were committed. From the victim’s evidence, the judge told Lynch that the young girl trusted him and was also very fond of him. However, the judge said to Lynch that he treated the underage girl like his “woman”.

Lynch has however maintained he is innocent of both crimes and hopes that the court will grant his appeal to have the conviction and life sentences overturned. In his notice of Appeal, he said among other things that the judges who conducted his trials erred and misdirected the jury on the law and elements of sexual conduct. He is arguing, among other things, that the trial Judge misdirected the jury, and that the imposed jail terms are excessive. His contention is that the judges failed to adequately direct the jury on the law and requirement of the danger of relying on the unsworn testimony of a child. Lynch was convicted of engaging in sexual penetration of two underage girls in 2018.