Man in No. 4A Supreme Court Sentenced to Ten Years for Sexual Relationship Resulting in Pregnancy Termination

The man who confessed to raping a then 14-year-old girl, getting her pregnant and then giving her pills which terminated the pregnancy, was given a starting sentence of ten years when he appeared in the No. 4A Supreme Court yesterday.

“Your actions towards the complainant were abhorrent and deserve the strongest condemnation,” Justice Wanda Blair told Jermaine Christopher Ellis yesterday, as she added he was lucky not to be facing another charge.

“It is only in exceptional circumstances where a custodial sentence is not imposed,” the judge added.

Ellis, of Hindsbury Road, St Michael, had pleaded guilty, at an earlier Sessions of the Continuous Sittings, to having sexual intercourse with a girl who had attained the age of 14, but not 16, between October 1 and 31, 2017.

He was represented by Senior Counsel Andrew Pilgrim, while Principal State Counsel Joyann Catwell and State Counsel Eleazar Williams appeared for the prosecution.

The judge said she had considered his pre-sentencing report, which had deemed him as posing a low risk of reoffending, and the facts of the matter.

She said she had formed the opinion that the offence was so serious that a custodial sentence should be imposed.

The judge told Ellis she had determined that ten years was an appropriate starting point for his offence. She then deducted one year for the mitigating features after considering his guilty plea and his apology. The court also deducted one third for his guilty plea and six months for the delay in the matter.

The judge said she had rounded off Ellis’ time on remand to seven months and had deducted that as well.

In the end, Justice Blair ordered him to serve the remaining four years and seven months for the offence.

The court had heard the girl was a fourth form student who had known Ellis for more than three years. They became friendly and he would send casual Facebook messages. She responded to some of them.

One day in 2017, she was running late and he offered to drop her and some relatives to school. When the others got out, Ellis told her to get in the front seat. She only complied after Ellis insisted he would not drive any further unless she did.

He struck up a conversation, but the girl did not respond. He then asked her whether she wanted to see his penis. She declined but he took it out and pulled her head toward it. He then told her she was “moving like a little girl” and he was taking her to school before she got him “in trouble”.