40 had been previously found guilty of the offence

nice6boyt7

Gold miner, Sherwin Sharples, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for rape.The sentence was handed down by Justice Dawn Gregory at the Georgetown High Court on Thursday. Sharples, 40 had been previously found guilty of the offence, by a mixed 12-member jury.The allegation is that on June 10, 2013, at Demerara, Sharples engaged in sexual penetration of an 11-year-old female.  He had pleaded not guilty to the offence. His trial was conducted in camera before Justice Gregory at the Georgetown High Court. State Prosecutors Mercedes Thompson and Michael Shahoud presented the matter and Attorney-at-Law Leslie Sobers represented the accused.Subsequent to Sharples being found guilty of the offence, a probation report was ordered. However, on Thursday, the probation report was not presented.  The Probation Officer informed the court that the report was incomplete and asked for more time to have the document prepared.As such, the Judge set aside August 14, 2015 for presentation of the report.But she later informed the court that two Jurors will not be in the country for that date, and therefore she would proceed with sentencing.In her ruling, Justice Gregory took into consideration the man’s age in comparison to that of the victim and the fact that he used it as an advantage to overpower her.She noted too that although Sharples used his finger to commit the act, this is not seen as sexual or indecent assault but as rape, given the amendments made in the new Sexual Offences Act.The accused wore a depressed look on his face as the Judge handed down the sentence.Sharples urged his weeping relatives to “be strong,” as he was led away from the courtroom.