According to the victim, now 17 and pregnant, she met Howard during the summer of 2003, where they began dating each other, and the relationship lasted for about 4 months. She had told her mother about the relationship, and when her father found out, he took her to make a report to police, which led to Howard?s arrest.

Howard in his testimony said that he did not know that the girl was underaged. She had told him, he said, that she was 17, and that she was going into fourth form the beginning of the new school year.

Howard said that he later found out that the girl was 14 and about to turn 15 in October of that year. But by then it was too late for him, because when he actually learned of her age was when he was being picked up by police.

He told the court that when he met the girl?s mother, she had only told him that her daughter was young, but never gave him an age.

At the commencement of the two-day trial, the prosecutor, Marjorie Moyston, called four witnesses to the stand – the victim; her mother, a 39-year-old sanitation worker; the child?s father, a technician; and the investigating officer, woman police constable, Shelmadine Daly.

The accused was undefended, and called no one in his defense, not even his mother, who, he said, knew of the matter and had also been told that the girl was 17.

When the victim took the stand yesterday afternoon at about 2:30 p.m., she told the court that she met Howard one day when she was taking her baby cousin to George Street. He stopped her and they became engaged in a conversation.

She had just finished Standard 6 and was on her summer break, she said.

On that day Howard gave her a ride to George Street, where she dropped off the baby and he took her home.

She told him that she was going to a party that night with her mother, and he was to meet her there.

The accused did, and that?s when he met the girl?s mother for the first time. By the end of the night they got to know each other better, she said, and the following day she went to see him at his home, located in the Collet division area.

They would see each other on a daily basis, and then about 3-5 months later, they began having sex. She had not begun high school yet when they had sex for the first time. It happened at his house. She said that she was in his room, where he was showing her the many designer shirts he had.

He then asked her if she was ready to do it, and she said yes, and they had sex. That?s when she took it seriously, she said.

Howard?s testimony was not much different from the victim?s, only that he said he thought that she was 17. He told the court, however, that someone, whose name he cannot remember, told him one day that the girl was not 17.

This was before they had begun to have sex, he said.

But when he had confronted her about it, she had told him that the person was lying because she was 17. She got mad that day and left, he said.

In cross-examination, Moyston asked him then why did he not go and ask the child?s mother her age.

He said that at that time, he had stopped visiting the girl at her home. But he did state to the court that the girl?s mother would come to his home to visit him sometimes.

It would have taken nothing from him at that time to have asked the mother her daughter?s age, just to be sure, said Moyston.

Howard said that when he had asked the mother her daughter?s age, the mother only told him her daughter was young.

Howard explained to the court that it took about 2 months before he became intimate with the girl. He said that after he had confronted her about her age and she had left, she returned the following day.

She had no money for lunch and he gave her $5.00, and several other times he gave her money.

One morning, to his surprise, she came to the house crying, and told him that they [the school] had sent her home because her father had not paid the school fees. So he gave her $40.

She went to her father?s home and when she came back, she told him that he said that he would pay the bill.

The following day, the girl returned and was crying again. Howard said she told him that the teacher told her not to come back to school, because her father did not pay the school fees.

This led to the girl?s dropping out of school, said Howard.

Their relationship grew, and the girl began sleeping at his home, and they began having sex.

He said that he had asked her if her parents knew she was sleeping at his home, and she told him yes, and that her mother had no problem with it, only her father, said Howard.

On occasion, her mother would come and visit her at his home, he concluded.

This case marks the end of the Supreme Court session for this year in Court #4.

The next session of the Supreme Court begins on January 17, 2006.

Scheduled to be heard in the New Year are cases such as that of Robertino Oprescu, a minor, age 16, charged with the murder of Jason Encalada, a resident of Mile 8 in 2004; another minor, aged 16, charged with the death of Heston Castillo in Ladyville in 2004; and Chadrick Debride, Winston Jones, Windell Jones and Glen Jordan, charged with the murder of Constable Nedir Reymundo, among many others.