Child Testifies in Court of Sexual Assault by Aunt's Boyfriend: Trial Details

A young complainant in a sexual assault trial testified of telling her aunt that her boyfriend had molested her but said the woman refused to believe it.

The minor was speaking in the No. 4A Supreme Court as the trial against the St Michael man accused of indecently assaulting her on June 15, 2021, continued.

Taking the witness stand on Monday, the now 12-year-old girl told the jury of five women and four men that evening her mother had taken her over by her aunt after school. Later in the evening, she went to bed with her cousins in the front bedroom. However, while they dropped to sleep in the other bed, she stayed awake as it was just after 7 p.m. and she was not accustomed to sleeping that early.

She heard the door open, felt her toes being pulled and saw that it was her aunt’s boyfriend as the light was on. He left as someone called him, but then returned to the room three more times and continued touching her, including her private parts. She told the court that she kept her eyes closed as she did not want to get into trouble, but when he sat on the bed and started touching her vagina she opened her eyes and moved. He quickly got up, went to the door and looked back at her before leaving the room. “It felt weird, uncomfortable and hurt,” she admitted to Principal State Counsel Joyann Catwell who is prosecuting the case.

The complainant woke one of her cousins and told him what had happened and he went for his mother.

However, when her aunt entered the room, the girl became frightened as the accused and his brother also came into the room. She decided against saying anything. After the adults exited, she went into the other bed with her cousins and placed the youngest one on top of her as she did not want the accused to “come back and do it” to her again.

The next morning she told her aunt what happened but her relative did not believe her and while she wanted to go home, she had to wait until evening to get picked up by her mother. The complainant did not immediately tell her mother what happened because of her aunt’s reaction. It was a week later when she was refusing to go back over by her aunt, that she confessed what had occurred. Her mother took her to Oistins Police Station and to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Asked about the impact the alleged incident has had on her life, the girl said: “I blame myself for everything. I felt like it was all my fault.” She also spoke of developing a fear of men.

During the cross-examination by lawyer Dr Lenda Blackman, who is representing the 38-year-old accused man, along with attorneys Simon Clarke and Ken Mason, she admitted to not pushing his hand away when he was touching her or screaming for her aunt.

“I was frightened, I was afraid. I didn’t know what to do because I was frightened,” the complainant said.

The trial continues on Tuesday.