A 40-year-old man from Camalote Village in the Cayo District will spend the next six years behind bars for having sex with his teenage daughter and impregnating her more than two years ago.
Court testimony last week before Justice Herbert Lord revealed that the man had had intercourse at least twice with the sixteen-year-old from early March to the end of April, 2005, with the young girl giving birth to a premature baby girl in December of that year.
The man pleaded guilty in court last Wednesday and sentencing was scheduled for today.
Proceedings in Lord’s courtroom this morning saw mitigation pleas, followed by Lord imposing a sentence that was one year short of the maximum seven-year sentence. Lord acted in accordance with Section 62(1) of the Criminal Code, Chapter 101 of the Laws of Belize, which stipulates the said sentence in all cases save those in which the victim is twelve years of age and younger, regardless of consent.
The girl, now 18, told the court that the incident would stay with her for the rest of her life, and that even now, she cannot believe that her father did this to her.
In his own defense, the accused told the court the incident stemmed from his descent into drink and drugs after he uncovered an affair between his wife and another man.