15 years for raping mom

A grocery worker was sentenced to 15 years hard labour yesterday after he was found guilty of raping a 55-year-old mother.

In sentencing Andrew Paul, 36, of Sangre Grande, Justice Pamela Elder recalled that tomorrow would be Mother’s Day, and that mothers should be respected and not ravaged. She insisted that the court must protect society and show its condemnation for people like Paul, who had invaded his victim’s home, persisted in his violence and violated her. 

 
Although, noting that the maximum sentence for rape is life (natural life) imprisonment, she  called on Parliament to revisit the Sexual Offences Act and insert a section which will specifically deal with rape of the elderly. 

According to the evidence  led by State prosecutor Kathy-Ann Waterman-Latchoo, Paul went to the woman’s  home at Valencia about 6 am on July 2, 2001 and attacked her. She lives alone and was sitting in the doorway drinking a cup of milk when Paul accosted her. He asked her to perform oral sex on him and then pulled her inside the house.
There he undressed the woman and began to have sex with her when he was interrupted by someone calling “Good morning, good morning.” 
Paul ran and hid in the toilet while the woman ran outside bawling, “ Oh God, ah get rape, ah get rape.” 

The visitor who came calling was her builder who was working on her unfinished house. The builder held on to Paul until the arrival of the police.

However, Paul admitted having sex with the woman but said she consented. He claimed that he had met her at the Sangre Market and she  had invited him to visit her at home any time.

On the morning of the incident, Paul said  he was on his way to work when the maxi taxi he was travelling in broke down in the area of Wallen Vale. He remembered the woman’s invitation so he boarded a taxi and paid her a visit.

He said she was sitting in the doorway and she told him “ah going inside, you come after.” He said he did not understand what she meant by that, but he followed her to the bedroom. In the bedroom, he said she took off her underwear and he had sex with her. While having sex, Paul said she told him someone was calling and that he should go hide in the toilet.

The jury did not believe his defence and after deliberating for about 135 minutes return a guilty verdict. He was defended by Andrew Cassimir.