Georgetown: Weeks after a convicted rapist who was described as “selfish and barbaric” by a probation officer and was handed a 62-year jail term after confessing to raping two girls and a woman, the 22 year-old has appealed the severity of the sentence.
The accused Leon Jordan is challenging the severity of the sentence imposed by High Court Judge Brassington Reynolds.
Apart from severity of sentence, in a Notice of Appeal filed on July 4, Jordan is also arguing that he was given an unfair trial; that the trial judge failed to live up to the plea bargain, and that no medical report was presented to the court.
Described as “selfish and barbaric” by a probation officer, Jordan was committed to prison for raping two girls aged seven and 14, and a 24-year-old woman. Justice Reynolds imposed a 12-year sentence on Jordan for raping the seven-year-old girl; he was handed a 15-year sentence for raping the teenager and a 35-year jail term for raping the woman. The sentences accumulate to 62 years’, and Jordan only becomes eligible for parole completing 30 years.
During a sentence hearing, Justice Reynolds told Jordan that he cannot imagine what would cause a “handsome young man” to take such a direction in life.
According to the Judge, Jordan showed no emotion while his victims poured their hearts out to the court in relation to how the incidents have left them traumatized.
“But I don’t know if you have any feelings. For me, you are less than a human being which you ought to be,” Justice Reynolds had told the confessed rapist.
The Judge added, “Seven, 14, 28; was it going to be 56 next,” making reference to the age of the females Jordan had violated.
Jordan, nevertheless, received a lighter sentence on the first two charges as the judge considered that he was just a juvenile when he raped the underage girls.
On February 2, 2012, around 14:30hrs, the seven-year-old girl had just finished school and was waiting to be picked up by her older brother. The prosecutor added that Jordan would also visit the school to pick up his brother. According to the prosecutor, Jordan rode up to the little girl on a bicycle. He then told her that his mother had sent him to buy chicken.
The prosecutor said that Jordan promised that he would take the little girl home, and then grabbed her hands and forced her onto his bicycle. He threatened the girl by telling her, “If you scream, I will jook you with a knife.” Instead of taking the child home, Jordan took her to the seawalls where he pushed her onto the ground and ripped off her tights and underwear. He then held a knife to her neck and had sexual intercourse with her.
The court heard that after the act, Jordan left the girl under a bus shed. Somehow, the girl made her way home where she collapsed onto the kitchen floor. The child was revived by her mother to whom she later related her story. She was also bleeding profusely.
In relation to this incident, the prosecutor noted that Jordan had told police, “I went and pick up my brother and a ‘li’l girl asked me to drop she home. I carry her by a koker and pushed my fingers in her vagina.”
In the second instance, the 14-year-old girl was making her way home on January 13, 2013, when Jordan rode up to her on a bicycle and asked her something. Armed with an ice pick, Jordan forced the teenager onto his bicycle and took her to an isolated area where he pulled off her clothes and had sexual intercourse with her.
She later had profuse vaginal bleeding. Jordan, then, made sure that the area was clear before he allowed the young girl to leave. A medical examination revealed that the teenager’s hymen was ruptured.
On October 25, 2016, the 24-year-old woman was heading to work. She was waiting on public transportation when Jordan rode up to her on a bicycle and told her that something was wrong at her home. The woman made her way back home. She was accosted by Jordan who dragged her to a bushy area. A struggle ensued between them, and Jordan who was armed with a knife, bit off the woman’s left eyelid and spat it onto the ground.
With blood dripping from her eyes, Jordan forced himself onto the woman and had sexual intercourse with her. She was left hospitalized for five days and had to undergo corrective surgery to save her sight. A medical examination revealed that she had several lacerations to her vagina.
You must be logged in to post a comment.