A Guatemalan, Jose Nelson Hueso, 35, a resident of a village near Belmopan City who was found guilty last week of two counts of carnal knowledge of his stepdaughter, 11 at the time, was sentenced to 12 years for each count by Justice Herbert Lord in Belmopan Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 24.
Justice Lord stipulated that the sentences are to run concurrently, so Hueso will only serve 12 years.
The first incident occurred about 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 13, 2006, and the second occurred the following day, Saturday, January 14, around the same time.
The child, who testified in camera, said that in the first incident the man sent her little brother to a shop to buy, leaving her alone with him. He then took her from the living room into the bedroom, threw her on the bed and put a knife to her throat, she said.
She testified that the man then took off her clothes, then his, and then raped her. Her mother, who works out, was not at home at the time.
The child said she did not tell her mother what her stepfather did to her when she came home.
The next day, when they were moving their household belongings to a new house, she was left alone with the man again when her little brother and her uncle went in her uncle’s car, she said.
She testified that the man took her into the bedroom and raped her again.
Three days later, the child awoke early in the morning suffering from pain in her vagina. It became so unbearable she told her mother what the man did to her and her mother took her to a doctor. After the doctor examined her, she confirmed that the child was not a virgin and that she had had sex recently.
On January 18, 2006, the child, accompanied by her mother, went to Belmopan Police Station and reported the incidents. Hueso was then arrested.
Hueso, who was not represented by an attorney, chose to remain silent and he did not call any witnesses to testify on his behalf.
Senior Crown Counsel Merlene Moody represented the prosecution.