Weekend Report | The Freeport News | PDF Online Guide

Friday, July 3, 2009

Home National Sports Business Lifestyles Religion Arts & Culture Pulse Spice Editorial letters Opinion Foodie Sportscope Real Talks Weekend Report PDF's Classifieds Contact About Us Archive Weather

Letters | Opinion | Editorial | Weekend Report
FOODIE SPORTS SCOPE REAL TALKS Bring on the land crabs Appropriate template important for Caribbean Games success
Outrage at 'lenient' child rape sentence By JUAN McCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~juan@nasguard.com: Even though the Office of the Attorney General has filed an appeal to the one-year sentence of Lemuel "Stevie S" Stephen Smith that was handed down last week after he had previously been found guilty of raping a 13-yr-old girl, local child rights advocates and religious officials are livid at what they believe was much too lenient a sentence. On Monday, Director of the Crisis Centre Dr. Sandra Dean-Patterson, National Child Protection Council Chairman Gil Maycock, Pastors Cedric Moss, Lyall Bethel, Bill Higgs, Alan Lee and Bishop Simeon Hall, all expressed disbelief at the sentence and described it as unacceptable. "A one-year sentence does not help us with trying to get the message out that this is criminal behavior, and that this is very damaging to children," Dr. Patterson told The Nassau Guardian yesterday. "Once you commit this kind of crime, you need to be made to be accountable." Director of Public Prosecutions Bernard Turner told The Guardian yesterday that an appeal against the one-year sentence handed down by Justice Vera Watkins last Tuesday was filed the following day. Turner did not discuss the specifics of the appeal, but he did say that it is the AG's belief that the sentence was too lenient. Dr. Patterson said that by the time Smith, 47, leaves prison (in about nine months), the little girl he raped will not have begun to recover from the traumatic experience. In a joint statement released yesterday, Bethel, Higgs, Moss and Lee said that they were "alarmed and dismayed" at the sentence. "In our view, the one-year sentence amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist, and it trivializes the horrific crime of raping a 13-year-old girl," the pastors said. "Thankfully, the Attorney General is also dissatisfied with the light sentence Mr. Smith received and is appealing the same, so we are encouraged by that. Therefore, we join all right-thinking Bahamians in hoping and praying for a more just sentence for Mr. Smith that fits his crime of raping a little girl. Although time simply does not allow us to comment on every court ruling that we believe is unjust, we do so at this time out of our concern that there seems to be a growing indifference towards the extremely high incidence of sexual crimes in our country." During his trial, the prosecution alleged that Smith, while in Grand Bahama on January 12, 2004, preyed on and deceitfully lured the then 13-year-old who was walking home from a popular eatery into his car and gained her trust under the false pretense that he would take her home. Instead, the prosecution said he reportedly took her to a track road, ravaged her and dropped her off at home as if nothing had happened. Smith's trial commenced in April, but was halted several days later when he admitted to the offense just as the now 19-year-old accuser was about to take the stand. Up to the point where the trial was halted, the prosecution had called two police officers and had exhibited photos, clothing and semen samples. Smith's attorney, Murio Ducille, told Justice Watkins during the sentencing hearing last week that his client has been tremendously remorseful since the incident and asked for leniency as Smith is suffering from a severe spinal cord injury. The joint statement released by the pastors on Monday said that Smith's disability is inconsequential in light of the crime. "While it appears that Mr. Smith's physical disability played a role in the light sentence he received, we do not believe it should," the pastors said. "Clearly, Mr. Smith was physically capable of committing the crime of raping a child, hence he should be deemed capable of taking the maximum sentence allowable for that crime." Under the Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence Act, Smith faced a maximum of seven years in prison. Maycock said he was terribly hurt by what he termed Smith's manipulation of the system. "I'm not pleased with the sentence at all. As a people, we're saying that we're not serious about this and I truly believe that we will have more persons trying to manipulate the system by saying I am sick and all this," Maycock told The Guardian yesterday. "A minimum of seven years would send a message to him or whoever else would think of doing something like this. I was terribly hurt that our system would only have given him one year. I would like our legal system to look at this again and make that not because I commit a crime, but I show that I have a little problem here, I'm basically excused. When you had that problem you should have known better; don't touch our children. We have to make sure that we become angry like the Lord Jesus Christ did when he was on the earth. We will not tolerate in any shape or form, our children being abused." Bishop Simeon Hall of New Covenant Baptist Church said Smith's crime was heinous and deserved the maximum penalty. "Right-thinking and law-abiding citizens continue to be amazed that the courts seem not to see the society's outrage and intolerance of these types of crimes," Hall said. "Child molesters constitute a clear and present danger not only to children but [also] to our future." In addition to the one-year sentence he received, Smith will also serve three years' probation. Dr. Patterson said child sex offenders should be monitored indefinitely. "One of the things that we had been calling for is lifelong probation for sex offenders who are released from prison," she said. "Once you are released from prison you should be in a structured relationship where you are going to be monitored." Ducille told The Freeport News that "notwithstanding the fact that he may have been given a year, his stay in the prison is going to be extremely challenging," because of his disability. The National Child Protection Council, the Bahamas Christian Council, and The Crisis Centre will launch a campaign today in the hopes that it will bring renewed interest to the issue of child abuse. Dr. Patterson said the campaign focuses on children's safety. The campaign will be launched in Rawson Square this evening at 7 o'clock with a vigil for victims of child abuse. Dr. Patterson said she hopes that at least 1,000 people will attend. Tuesday, June 30, 2009