Trigger Warning: This article contains information of a sensitive nature. Details include the sexual assault of minors. The information can potentially be upsetting and may trigger negative feelings or memories.
CMC – A High Court judge has sentenced a 20-year-old man to five years in prison and two years of probation after he was found guilty of aiding and recording the sexual assault of a 12-year-old child.
Senior Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson also ruled that Jean Saintil will return to prison for one year if he breaches his probation.
The convicted man had earlier accepted a plea bargain to charges of abetment to unlawful sexual intercourse and child pornography. The charges stem from an incident in April 2023 when the 12-year-old victim left her home with a female friend.
The court heard that the child had gone inside a shop, but on her return didn’t see her friend. The younger girl saw their mutual friend, Harry, who informed her that her friend was at his home waiting for her.
But on arriving at Harry’s home, she met Saintil and another man. They told her that her friend was in Harry’s room, which was a lie, and when she tried to leave, Harry, Saintil and the third man, whom she knows as M, forced her back into the room.
Prosecutor Karine MacVean told the court that M pushed the child on the bed, and Harry told her to perform oral sex on him. As she did this, M penetrated her with his fingers and Saintil masturbated while recording the incident on his cell phone.
He later sent the video to Harry. Saintil, who was arrested and remained in custody since June 2023, will have the two years and one week spent on remand deducted from the overall sentence.
Meanwhile, a 45-year-old pastor has been charged and taken into custody for allegedly molesting his teenage stepdaughter three times over the last three years.
The pastor, whose name is being withheld to conceal the identity of the minor, was charged with three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a dependent child when he appeared before Assistant Chief Magistrate Carolyn Vogt Evans on Thursday.
His wife has been charged with failing to report sexual abuse.
The court heard that the pastor allegedly had unlawful sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter three times while she was between 15 and 17 from December 1, 2022, to February 10, 2025, in New Providence.
His wife was accused of failing to report the alleged sexual abuse between June 1 and 30, 2024.
They were not required to enter a plea and were told that their matter would proceed to the Supreme Court via a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).
The accused will return to court for a report on June 30.
