Man found guilty on 3 counts of rape

HIGH COURT judge Pamela Elder yesterday agreed to delay the sentencing of a man found guilty of three sexual offences after his attorney Nathaniel King requested that the court get a probation officer’s report on his client.

Santa Cruz resident Uric Smith was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of having sex with a female under the age of 14 by a nine- member jury in the Port-of-Spain Fifth Criminal Court yesterday. Following a three-hour deliberation by the jury, the Judge asked the foreman if they had arrived at verdicts in the three offences. The foreman informed the judge that they had arrived at verdicts in two of the charges, but were originally undecided on one of the rape charges. The judge accepted a seven-two majority verdict of guilty.During the trial, the  court heard that sometime between November 1 and 30, 1998 Smith began having sex with the victim, who was 13 years old at the time. It was also revealed that the sexual relationship continued from December 1, 1998 — when the victim turned 14 — and ended sometime in May, 1999.

It was revealed that Smith, who was related to the victim’s half brother and lived in the maid’s quarters of the house would visit the teenager’s bedroom to have sex with her at least twice per week. The teenager told the court that she did not report the incident to anyone because Smith had threatened her. He also reportedly told the teen that he would report that her stepfather gambled and had sex with little girls, and he (her step-father) would be sent to jail. The teenager informed the court that she did not have consensual sex with Smith.

In August 1999, the teenager’s mother observed that her daughter’s belly was getting larger and took her to Mt Hope Medical Complex to have her examined. The examination revealed that the teen was pregnant. The teen then confessed everything to her mother, and a report was made to the Santa Cruz Police Station. On October 21, 1999, following an investigation, PC Narace and others visited Smith at his Santa Cruz home and arrested him in connection with the offence. He was later released and arrested again in December 1999 and charged for the offence. In his defence, Smith told the court that he never had sex with the teenager, and explained that she only made those accusations against him to try and explain her pregnancy. In his evidence in chief he also told the court that “I can’t say I am the father of the child.”

Following the verdict, the judge asked Smith if he had anything to offer the court in mitigation, and Defence Attorney Prince asked the judge to submit a request for a probation officer’s report on his client before passing sentence. The judge then granted the request and adjourned the matter to July 22 for sentencing. The State was represented in the matter by attorneys Kathy-Ann Waterman-Latchoo and Alexander Prince.