SAN PEDRO, Ambergris Caye, Wed. Oct. 21, 2015–Alphonso Wiltshire, 54, president of the San Pedro Taxi Association and a landlord of San Juan, was remanded to the Belize Central Prison on Friday in the San Pedro Magistrate’s Court on two counts of aggravated burglary and two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse for raping a 13-year-old girl.
Police say that Wiltshire went into the girl’s home when she was alone, and raped her at gunpoint, threatening her life if she reported him to police.
The girl, in the presence of her mother, told police that Wiltshire had raped her more than once, the first time occurring on Sunday, May 3. Wiltshire, she said, came into the home, showed her his gun and told her not to tell anyone, or he would kill her.
He then began touching and fondling her, and raped her. Fearing for her life, the girl did not tell anyone.
At about 1:00 on Friday, October 2, the child was at home along with her younger sister when Wiltshire again went into the home, threatened her with the gun, and again raped her.
A neighbor saw what had happened and told police, who took the child to the San Pedro Polyclinic, where a doctor certified that she had been carnally known, and the injury to her private parts was classified as grievous harm.
Police later arrested Wiltshire in San Pedro.
Superintendent Henry Jemmott, Commander of San Pedro Police, told Amandala that because Wiltshire used his firearm to rape the girl, the gun has been confiscated and his license revoked.
Police said that if it were not for the brave witness who alerted the police, the rape of the child would have remained a secret, and the threats to her life would have continued, with apparently no end.
Section 47 Subsection 1 of the Substantive Laws of Belize Revised Edition 2000 states that every person, who carnally knows a girl under the age of 14, with or without her consent, shall on conviction on indictment be imprisoned for a period of no less than 12 years, but which can be extended to life imprisonment.
Section 48 of the Substantive Laws Revised Edition 2000 states that if a person is found guilty of the offense of rape or carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 14 years on more than two occasions, notwithstanding anything contained in the codes or any laws to the contrary, he shall be sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment.