Nevis man guilty of abusing 10-year-old…
Gets suspended sentenced with psychological supervision

By Rawle Nelson

~~Adz:Right~~ A 48-year-old-man from Nevis was recently found guilty and imprisoned in St. Maarten for abusing a 10-year-old boy in Statia.

The convicted man, Reginald Maynard, was sentenced to serve 200 days in prison of which 175 days are suspended with three years probation, psychological supervision and 120 hours of community service, after the court refused to buy his story.

The matter was heard in a St. Maarten Court and the Prosecutor, THW Stein, stated that Maynard, on June 26, had picked up the boy to give him a ride to school. However, instead of taking the boy to school, he was accused of driving to a remote area under the pretence of showing the minor a beehive.

Stein told the court that while in the remote area, Maynard held the boy down, took off his trousers and forced the child to show him a private part of his anatomy.

Maynard’s counsel, MM Hofman-Ruigrok, told the court that the boy panicked at a joke that was misguided, and her client did not mean to harm him. She stated that, according to her client, the boy had requested a job which prompted Maynard to tell him that he could work with him. This, she explained, was the reason why her client took the 10-year-old out of the vicinity of his school.

“He (the boy) had just witnessed a gang rape on television the previous evening, and that is why he panicked and got scared,” she said. Hoofman-Ruigrok noted the boy’s father had stated that his son told him her client did not touched him, but merely forced him to have a look at the private part of his anatomy.

“What I want to point out however, is that there is no proof in what the boy is saying and also what my client is saying. Everything else is hearsay which should not be used,” she argued. She pleaded with the judge for an acquittal and noted her client had made a joke that was taken seriously.

Handing down his sentence, Judge Gossens pointed out that the boy’s statements were very consistent, and after listening to Maynard’s version he found a number of contradictions in his explanations of the events, thus resulting in him believing the boy was telling the truth.

However, in a turn of events, Maynard was spared a return trip to jail after he was seriously mistreated by other inmates during his month-long pretrial detention.

The Prosecutor told the court that there were very few possibilities in guaranteeing Maynard’s safety. “I wish to point out that we cannot guarantee this man’s safety in prison and, therefore, would like the court to take it into serious consideration as his safety is certainly going to continue being at risk.”

Prison officials noted that Maynard was mistreated after inmates were upset about the accusations that he had molested the 10-year-old. A number of person who were in court expressed shock and dismay at Maynard’s action, which prompted calls for stricter penalties to be instituted against persons found guilty of committing criminal acts against children.