Man sentenced to 45 years for sexual activity with a child

Jailed: Omadat Persaud

Georgetown: Omadat Persaud, called “Roshi”, was on Monday sentenced to 45 years imprisonment by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall after a 12-member jury found him guilty of the first count of sexual activity with a child family member.

When asked if he had anything to say to the court, the accused said, “I am innocent; I didn’t do this.”

The matter was tried in the Sexual Offences Court in the Georgetown High Court, where it was heard that between July 1 and 31, 2015, the accused engaged in sexual activity on two occasions with a family member who was five years old at the time.

The accused began crying as he was being led away to jail.

Justice Morris-Ramlall told the court that in reaching her decision, she took into account the nature of the offence and the circumstance under which it was committed. The accused breached his position of trust to protect the child who was a family member.

The judge said what the accused did, in essence, was to take away the innocence of that child, and to compound matters, he showed no remorse. But taking into account as well that he was ill-advised by his attorney, she refrained from imposing the maximum sentence, which is life imprisonment.

In handing down the sentence, the judge told the court that the accused will be eligible for parole after serving 35 years in jail.