Belize man remanded over alleged assault of 12-year-old

Belize: A 50-year-old man was sent to Belize Central Prison after he was charged with rape of a 12-year old girl, who is now reported to be 7 weeks pregnant. He has been charged with one count of rape of a child and two counts of sexual assault.

The accused has been identified as Kermit Meighan, who appeared before the court on Thursday, April 2, 2026, without any legal representation. According to court reports, the sexual assault charges are for two separate incidents in 2024.

The victim told the authorities that Meighan had touched her inappropriately on two occasions, while she was at a residence after her mother had left her and her siblings.

The alleged rape was reported to have taken place in April 2025. Meighan woke the girl up and took her to another room where the assault took place. The case was reported to the police on March 24, 2026.

It was determined in the medical exam that the child had been sexually abused, with injuries described to be very serious. The girl is also reportedly 7 weeks into a pregnancy.

Although the police had finished the initial stage of investigations in June 2025, Meighan was charged for the first time on March 31, 2026. During his court appearance, no plea was entered for the same reason that the charges are very serious and are to be dealt with in the Belize High Court. His bail was also denied by the court.

Meighan was remanded into custody and will appear in the court during his next hearing, which is scheduled for July 27, 2026. Investigations into the case remain active.

Locals are questioning the investigation process. Emmy A Thompson said, “I’m not understanding how the police started the investigation last year June but she is only 7 weeks along. First of all if both the family and police knew, how did he regain access to the minor and furthermore this man really wanted trouble for himself to go back and further sexually assault the minor knowing he was under investigation?”