Father's bizarre excuse for child rape, found guilty

A 54-year-old man from southern Trinidad has been found guilty of incest after raping his 14-year-old daughter twice in 2007.

In admitting to raping the girl in front of her mother, prosecutors said the man, when confronted by his wife, told her he had replaced her with the child.

This was because the mother had left him a month earlier after being physically attacked by him.

On Tuesday, after a judge-alone trial, Judge Kathy Ann Waterman-Latchoo found the man guilty on both charges, as well as an additional charge of aggravated sexual assault of the girl.

He was taken into custody and will be sentenced on December 4.

The evidence in the case was that on the night of May 12, 2007, the girl was sleeping on a shared mattress with her younger sister when their father entered the bedroom.

He then took off the girl’s clothes and raped her.

Prosecutors Dylan Martin and Niara Boodan alleged that the man was watching a pornographic film the next day when he called the girl into the room, held her hand and asked her for sex again.

She refused, pulled her hand away and walked out of the house, prosecutors said.

However, that same evening he entered her bedroom again and forced her to perform oral sex on him. He asked the girl for intercourse, but she refused, punched him in the face and went to bed.

Prosecutors said the girl was again in her room on the night of May 19 when the man entered and raped her. While he was doing so, the phone rang and he stopped the attack.

The girl eventually told her mother what happened and the woman confronted her husband.

He admitted to raping his daughter, but stated that he had replaced her with the child.

A report was later filed with the police. After medical examination, doctors discovered that her hymen was missing.

When police went to the man’s home to arrest him, he tried to run away but was detained by officers before he was charged.