Indecent assault is a “nasty and unpleasant offence” and offenders will generally be given custodial sentences, a High Court judge said yesterday.
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However, the complainant expressed an interest in being compensated and, as a result, Basil Delisle Alleyne parted with $4 500 forthwith, of a $10 000 compensation package, when he reappeared in the No. 4 Supreme Court.
He is also now on a suspended sentence. Alleyne, of Kingsland Gardens, Christ Church, had pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a woman on October 28, 2020. He was represented by attorney Faith Greaves, while State Counsel Maya Kellman appeared for the prosecution.
Exceptional circumstances
“Generally speaking, unless there are exceptional circumstances, sexual offences will be visited with custodial sentences,” Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell said.
She told Alleyne he had abused his position of trust when he lured the woman into a bathroom and performed oral sex on her.
The judge said there was evidence of planning and premeditation, and the act was a violation of the complainant’s choice as to with whom she would choose to engage in such conduct.
Justice Smith-Bovell also pointed to the psychological effect the offence had on the woman, as the complainant said she was eventually forced to leave her workplace because the atmosphere
became “toxic”.
Appropriate sentence
As a result, the judge said she considered that four years was the appropriate starting sentence, noting that the maximum sentence for the offence was five years.
She considered his guilty plea, that he had no previous convictions and that his pre-sentencing report deemed him as posing a low risk of general recidivism and a low risk of sexual recidivism.
The judge then deducted one year for the mitigating features and one-third for the guilty plea, which brought the sentence to two years.
However, she told Alleyne she would accede to the complainant’s request for compensation and would also be placing him on a suspended sentence.
She then ordered Alleyne to pay $10 000 in compensation, of which $4 500 was due immediately.
The remainder is due by March 29, 2026, or Alleyne will spend two years in default.
Justice Smith-Bovell then sentenced him to two years in prison, but suspended it for two years. (HLE)