Former teen tells of being assaulted

McDonald Ricardo Clarke, of Good Intent, St George, is accused of indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl on August 12, 2019, and again between September and October that same year.

Clarke, who was 49 at the time, has denied both charges.

He is being represented by attorneys Richard Ellis and Lynette Eastmond, while Principal State Counsel Joyann Catwell and State Counsel Treann Knight are prosecuting. A jury of three men and six women is hearing the evidence in Supreme Court No. 3A where Justice Anthony Blackman is presiding.

Visited house frequently

During her evidence last Friday, the complainant said she previously lived with her mother and during that time became acquainted with the accused, who was her stepfather’s friend and who visited the house frequently. Her mother worked much of the time and as a result, left her children in her boyfriend’s care or a couple of his close friends.

She said that on August 12, 2019 around 9 p.m., her mother and the boyfriend left the children at home with the accused, while they went to visit her (the girl’s) sister’s grave.

All of the children were together in one room but around 9:30 p.m. she and her siblings left and went into the living room to watch television, where they fell asleep.

The witness recalled being awakened by someone touching her in the area of her vagina, and realised it was the accused. She said she immediately grabbed his hand and told him to stop, but he did not. She added the accused tried to pull her blanket off and threatened her that if she told anyone what he had done, he would tell her mother how she was behaving and get her sent to juvenile detention.

She recalled shouting at him to stop, which caused her siblings to wake up. Clarke, she told the court, then moved away and went into the kitchen.

The complainant said she never told her mother or stepfather anything about the incident that night because she did not want to be sent away from home.

She further testified that Clarke touched her inappropriately on her vagina several times after that. Even though she could not remember the exact date, she recalled being at home one morning with her mother and one sibling. She said the accused came to their house about 9 a.m. She showered and got dressed, before lying on the bed with her younger sister, who was backing her.

Clarke entered the bedroom while her mother was in the kitchen. He approached and started feeling her breasts before telling her to pull down her skirt, which she did. She was also wearing a short tights at the time and he began touching her through the tights, she said.

As her mother approached the room, she said Clarke stopped touching her private parts, offered her younger sister a snack and left the house to go buy one. After he left her mother asked her what happened in the bedroom, and that was when she confessed that he felt her up.

Her mother questioned her about how long it had been going on and she told her for a couple months. The mother asked whether she would speak to the police and she agreed to do so, after her promotional examinations. On June 10, 2022, she gave police a statement.

Questioned daughter

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Ellis, the mother insisted that when she entered the room, she saw her daughter pulling down her skirt. She later asked the girl whether any interaction between herself and the accused had ever happened before and the girl said yes, and gave an August 2019 date.

The mother said that at the time of the alleged incident, the accused was at the house doing some work on it, while the children were on school holiday. On the night in question she left some of her children with the accused while she and other family members went to visit her daughter’s grave. It was not the first time she left them in his care, since the accused was godfather to at least two of the children.

The witness also denied making up the report to police as a response to being asked to leave her ex-boyfriend’s residence.

The trial resumes on June 9.