Guyana: Security guard sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempted rape of 4-year-old boy

Guyana: A 46-year-old security guard from St. Lawrence, East Bank Essequibo, was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday, January 21, in connection with an attempted rape of a four-year-old boy. The male has been charged with two counts of sexual offences under the Sexual Offences Act, Chapter 8:03.

The accused has been identified as 46-year-old Ganesh Lewis, a security guard and resident of Region Three.

According to police reports, the incident took place on August 2, 2022, and the accused was arrested by the officials on August 4, 2022, after the family of the victim made an official complaint.

The officers originally charged him for rape under the Sexual Offences Act, Chapter 8:03, which defines “rape of a child under 16 years and attempted rape of a child under 16 years.”

However, on Wednesday, when the accused was presented before the court,  the justice found him not guilty for the charge of rape instead found him guilty of attempted rape.

During the trial, the prosecution presented much evidence and a witness who told the jury that “On August 2, 2022, he saw the accused with the four-year-old victim in an uncomfortable and compromising position with their pants down."

Following which he confronted the accused, but the accused said he was just lifting the child from the stool and fled the scene with a boy child. After that the witness reported the incident to the victim’s family who later reported the incident to official.

After hearing or viewing all the evidence, Acting Chief Justice Navindra Singh outlines his sentence while considering a structured approach, which he further defines as “the accused is obliged to take 20 years imprisonment but considering the gravity of the offence, 5 years will be deducted from his punishment.”

The justice further stated that “but considering the extreme youthfulness of the victim and the absence of remorse on the part of the offender, an additional three years punishment is given, which means the accused have been sentenced to 18-years in prison for the attempted rape of a four-year-old boy.”

Lastly the court also ordered the Department of Social Services, or any appropriate counselling agency, to continue or resume counselling services for the child victim until such time as professionals determine that the support is no longer necessary.