Taxi driver who molested schoolgirl to serve six months in jail
LEONARD Bristol, a 22-year-old former soldier of Lot 37 Bristol Street, Cumberland, East Canje Berbice, was on Thursday sentenced by New Amsterdam Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus to six months’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl.
The hire-car driver had initially appeared before the Reliance, East Canje Magistrate and was not required to plead to the charge alleging that he had fondled the vagina of a twelve-year-old girl.
Detective Woman Constable Keisha Deane-Smith had sworn to the accuracy of the information gathered in the police file, which had resulted in the defendant being arraigned. And Police Sergeant Phillip Sheriff, prosecuting, said the virtual complainant, a now second-form student, had boarded the defendant’s vehicle with expectation to be taken to the Berbice Educational Institute; but after the defendant had dropped off the other passengers, he diverted from the intended route and drove to a desolate area at Palmyra Village, East Canje, where he allegedly fondled the juvenile’s private parts.
He subsequently took the teen to her school, where an observant teacher noticed that the child was late and questioned her about the reason for her lateness.
The virtual complainant then confided in her class teacher, who in turn contacted the child’s mother, who then reported the matter to the police.
Bristol had been ordered to lodge bail in the sum of $100,000 as well as his Guyana passport.
By Jeune Bailey Vankeric
