_{Photo: (l-r) Mirna Coc nee Carmelo and Ponciano Coc}

by Roy Davis (freelance writer)

BELIZE CITY, Wed. Apr. 24, 2024

Building contractor Ponciano Coc, 57, and his wife, Mirna Coc nee Carmelo, 32, were spared a custodial sentence by Justice Derek Sylvester when they appeared today in court and pleaded guilty to cruelty to a child.

The acts of cruelty for which they were convicted, reportedly occurred between November 1 and November 22, 2020 at the couple’s residence, located in Hattieville, Belize District. During that period, they inflicted severe beatings on their eldest son, who was 12 years old at the time, which left marks on his body. At one point they also punished him by putting his hands on a hot comal, which is used to bake tortillas.

On another occasion, they tied his hands and feet, and the hands and feet of his younger brother, and left them hanging upside down from the ceiling until after the couple returned home from having gone to lunch. According to the eldest son, in a statement he gave to the police, the release from the ceiling was painful, because he fell on his back.

The parents were given a suspended sentence of 2 years, and they were ordered to pay fines of $500 each within a period of 8 months. If they default on payment they will serve 3 months imprisonment. They were also ordered to attend counseling sessions in parental skills and child welfare, for which a report will be filed in May 2025.

They also pleaded guilty to 2 counts of grievous harm and 1 count of harm, but the sentences for those offences were incorporated in the suspended sentence and the fine.

Justice Sylvester said he was initially inclined to give the couple a custodial sentence because of the gravity of their actions, but he declined after he heard submissions from Crown Counsel Riis Cattouse and their attorney, Andrew Bennett.

Cattouse submitted that although the actions of the couple were terrible, he didn’t think that it was a case that warranted a custodial sentence. He said that the aggravating factors were that the couple were the guardians of the children, and they violated that position of trust. He said that the mitigating factors were that the couple pleaded guilty to the charges, they had expressed remorse for what they did, and they had received training in parenting skills. Sending them to prison would not make them better parents, he said.

Bennett said he agreed with Cattouse’s submissions. On November 25, 2020, a care order was granted by the Belize Family Court by which the children were placed in a foster home. Bennett also said that in May 2021 the children were diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, and they were given mood medication to stabilize them.

The couple have two other children, both of whom are in their care.