_{Ervin Middelton, sentenced}

BELIZE CITY, Wed. July 2, 2025

Tonight, Ervin Middleton, who was convicted in April of this year for rape of a 13-year-old, was sentenced to 17 years 10 months and 27 days in prison by Justice Nigel Pilgrim.

Justice Pilgrim had taken into consideration several factors in arriving at the sentence; those included the mandatory sentencing range for the offense of rape.

He also took into account the requirement that any person who rapes someone who is under 16 in age be given a sentence, on indictment, of no less than 15 years, with that sentence possibly extending to life imprisonment if the victim was under the age of 14.

In this case, Middleton’s victim was 13.

On Monday, April 7, 2025, Middleton, who was represented by Attorney Ian Gray, was found guilty of rape of a child. The victim, who was 18 when she testified in-camera, told the court that she was at home alone when Middleton arrived at the house. The child said she had been left home alone, and her mother and her other siblings along with Middleton, had left to attend a function.

However, according to the victim, Middleton, who was living at the house at the time, returned home earlier than her family members. The victim said he asked her for a cup of water, which she had gotten for him, but after she gave him the cup of water, he asked her to lie down in the bed with him.

The victim said she refused, and told Middleton she was going to tell her mother, and was exiting the room when Middleton grabbed her hand, pushed her onto the bed, and pinned her down with his body. She also noted that Middleton, in response to her threats that she would tell her mother, told her that her mother would never believe her. He then raped her, even though the child was crying and struggled to get him off her.

Justice Pilgrim, at sentencing today, classified Middleton’s act upon his victim as a category 2 offense, and said Middleton caused very serious psychological harm to his victim when he raped her. Pilgrim also noted the significant difference in age, as Middleton is more than 30 years older than his victim.

He added, “Children are vulnerable; they must be protected; and the Court must send a clear message that a person in position of trust of a child, who uses that trust to harm a child, if they touch them, they will end up in jail.”

The Victim Impact Statement from the minor was also read out in court. In that statement, the victim told the court, “I felt down and hopeless, especially not having the support of my own mother.”

The child was removed from her home for her protection after she made the allegations against Middleton, and so she was separated from her siblings, with whom she said she was very close.

The minor told the court that her academic performance at school suffered when she was raped.

After setting 17 years as the starting point for the sentence, Justice Pilgrim added two years due to what he observed to be a level of premeditation in the act of the rape of the child, as Middleton waited for the child to be alone, and he knew that the child’s guardian would not have believed her, since he knew a lot about the family. The judge also took into consideration Middleton’s convictions for the offense of wounding and harm, which were committed after the rape allegations were made against him, and he thus added two more years to the sentence due to the lack of regard for the law that was exhibited by Middleton—resulting in a sentence of 19 years.

He then deducted 1 year for mitigating factors that included the statements made by character witnesses who described Middleton as a hardworking father and friend, so that brought his sentence to 18 years.

A further deduction was made for Middleton’s time on remand, which was 33 days—from September 15, 2022, to October 18, 2022—leaving Middleton with a sentence of 17 years, 10 months and 27 days, which was backdated up to April 7, 2025, the day he was found guilty of rape of a child.

Justice Pilgrim also told Middleton that while incarcerated he must undergo mandatory counseling and also receive medical and psychiatric treatment at the prison for his condition, and he cannot change his address.

In his defense, Middleton denied the allegations and told the court that the child had fabricated the story against him in an act of revenge.

He said he had been dating the child’s mother, and when he found out that he was related to the child’s mother, he ended the relationship.