Rapist pressures 14-y-o victim to take abortion medication 

The man who failed to attend the latter part of his trial and then attempted to flee the country after being found guilty of raping a 14-year-old girl will spend 19 years, six months and 23 days in prison.

The period represents the sum of the three consecutive sentences that Justice Brian Cottle handed down on Ronald Samuel, 30, for his crimes.

In addition to rape, a jury found Samuel guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 15, indecent assault of the same virtual complainant (VC), cyberbullying, and harassment by means of electronic communication. 

Senior Crown Counsel Richie Maitland, who prosecuted Samuel, appeared for the Crown at the sentencing hearing and Samuel was unrepresented, as he had been for most of his trial.

At the sentencing hearing, Samuel, who has admitted during the trial and in an electronic interview with police that he had had sex with the VC, said he did not understand why he was charged with rape.

The crimes

The facts of the case, as outlined by the judge, are that Samuel exchanged telephone numbers with the VC who was then a school child. 

He began to have a conversation with her using a popular messaging application and offered to give her a cell phone and money. 

On Nov. 11, 2021, Samuel met the girl in Kingstown and told her the school uniform she was wearing needed ironing.

He volunteered to take her to his home in Campden Park to iron it and the girl went with him.

When they got to the house, Samuel borrowed an iron from a neighbour and he invited the VC to remove her clothes and iron them.

He left the house while she was doing so but returned shortly after. 

The girl was only wearing her undergarments. Samuel took the iron from her, pushed her onto the bed, removed her tights and panties, and had sex with her. 

He told the jury that he could tell from the expression on the girl’s face that she did not enjoy what he was doing to her. 

Samuel said he asked the VC if he should stop and she told him to continue.

He said he stopped having sex with her at that point. However, the girl told the jury that Samuel continued to have sex with her for about an hour.

He did not wear a condom.

He gave the VC a towel and she showered and put back on her school uniform and left.

The VC did not make a report at that point.

One week later, on Nov. 18, 2021, he met her in Kingstown, held onto her hand and took her to the back of a business place in Kingstown and kissed her while fondling her breast and vagina.

She pushed him away, told him to stop and that she wanted to go home.

Samuel allowed the child to go. 

In the weeks that followed, Samuel continued to communicate with the girl via the messaging application and pressured her to take abortifacients out of apparent concern that the girl was pregnant. 

He showed her a video saying it was of her having sex with him and threatened to show it to her parents and publish it on her school’s Facebook page.

This was all part of his efforts to pressure the girl to take the abortifacient.

Defendant doesn’t understand why he was charged with rape 

At his sentencing, Samuel told the court that he could not understand the rape charge because the VC had said during the preliminary inquiry that he did not rape her

Samuel said he was never charged with rape in an interview and did not understand up to that day why he was charged with rape, knowing he did not rape the VC.

‘I have three sons out there that I take care of. They mean everything to me and I myself real up without a father and I don’t want my son them to real up without me,” he told the court. 

“For the past two years or so, I have been working with the system to help them,” he said, adding that he had carried twice to the Criminal Investigations Department two people who were missing.

“I am the breadwinner for my kids so I just need the court to show me some mercy,” said Samuel, who called the 23-year-old mother of his 6-year-old son as a character witness.

Samuel told the court that his first son, whose mother is 27, is 8 and the other 2 months old.

He told the court the mother of the 2-month-old child is “25, I think”. 

“You think; you are not sure,” the judge said. 

Child pressured to take abortion medication 

In handing down his sentence, the judge noted that rape attracts a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a notional sentence of 30 years. 

Cyberbullying carries a maximum penalty of a fine of EC$200,000 or five years or both and on summary conviction, the maximum sentence for harassment by means of electronic communication is EC$25,000 or one year imprisonment or both. 

Justice Cottle said that in coming to his sentences, he had noted the testimony of the mother of one of Samuel’s sons, the other children as well as their mothers’ ages.

He pointed out that the aims of criminal punishment is prevention, retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation, noting that the sentencing guidelines are to be followed unless doing so is not in the interest of justice. 

The judge said he would follow the guidelines.

On the rape charge, Justice Cottle noted that the victim had suffered serious psychological harm and lost her ability to trust others, especially men.

She had many sleepless nights agonising about how to tell her mother about what had happened and feared she had contracted a sexually-transmitted infection or had been impregnated. 

Justice Cottle said there was a significant level of planning; Samuel had groomed the VC and enticed her by offering her an iPhone and money. 

The judge also noted the age difference. 

He established a starting point of 15 years — half of the maximum.

The aggravating features of the offence were that Samuel ejaculated in the VC; he knew that she was only 14 and therefore incapable of consent by law. 

The child was particularly vulnerable because of her circumstances and her age.

The court found no mitigating features of the offence.

Aggravating of the offender was that Samuel continued to display a complete lack of remorse. 

The judge concluded that the aggravating features outweighed the mitigating and increased the sentence by one year, taking it to 16 years.

As regards the unlawful sexual intercourse charge, the judge identified several of the same aggravating and mitigating features.

He began with a sentence of two years — 40% of the maximum but made no adjustment to it to avoid double counting the aggravating and mitigating features of the offence. 

The court also did not consider Samuel’s previous conviction as it was not for a similar offence.

The judge noted there were no sentencing guidelines for cyberbullying. He established a starting sentence of one year — six months less than the prosecution had proposed, citing UK guidelines. 

The court held that the VC suffered significant psychological harm, that Samuel was culpable because his threats of blackmail and his offer of gifts as a bribe to the VC were targeted because she was just a vulnerable child.

The defendant showed no remorse and his communication by electronic means was consistent, persistent, or sustained, Justice Cottle said. 

The judge did not consider the aggravating and mitigating features of this offence, so as to avoid double counting and concluded that a six-month sentence was appropriate.

Samuel had spent five months and seven days on remand and this was subtracted from the 16-year sentence for rape.

In deciding on whether to impose consecutive or concurrent sentences, the judge noted the sentencing guidelines and the date of the offenses.

He ordered that on the rape charge, Samuel spend 15 years six months and 23 days in prison. For unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 15 years, the sentence is two years to run concurrent to the sentence for rape.

After completing those sentences, he will serve three years for indecent assault.

Then for cyberbullying, Samuel would serve one year in prison, consecutive to the sentence for indecent assault. 

And, for harassment, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment to run concurrent to the sentence for cyberbullying. 

“You did not help yourself by running away from your trial. You made things worse for yourself,” the judge told Samuel. 

Before Samuel’s sentencing, his surety took to the stand and thanked the judge for being lenient with her after Samuel failed to attend her trial.

She also thanked the prosecutor and court officers, including Witness Care Officer Telesford and Corporal Pompey “who have been there for her over the last few days to help in the capture of Mr. Samuel”.