by Linda Straker
- Visually impaired man in the parish of St George charged with rape
- Hundreds of sexually-related offences reported to the police in 2017
- Once a person is convicted of a sexual offence, the record will not be wiped out.
Police have confirmed that a visually impaired man in the parish of St George was recently charged with 4 counts of rape of a 14-year-old female student.
The incidents reportedly happened in 2016 and 2017 but were reported to the relevant authorities in early 2018. This resulted in a full investigation by the police, and the 23-year-old man was charged and placed on bail.
In Grenada, a person commits the offence of rape if
(a) he or she intentionally and unlawfully commits an act which causes penetration with his or her genital organs, of another person;
(b) the other person does not consent to the penetration; or
(c) he or she does not believe that the other person consents to such penetration or is reckless as to whether the other person consents or not.
Hundreds of sexually-related offences were reported to the police in Grenada in 2017 and following investigations, a significant number of men and women were charged for committing sexually related offences to persons under the sexual consent age of 16.
Rape is an indictable offence and carries a maximum jail time of 30 years per charge. It is one of the crimes that do not fall under the rehabilitation order. In other words, once a person is convicted of a sexual offence, the record will not be wiped out through the application of the Rehabilitation Offence Order but will remain permanently on the convict’s record.
