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For release Sunday, April 15, 2007
Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) considers the suspended sentence handed down to convicted child abuser Floyd Wright a mockery of justice and an incomprehensible ruling by Justice Marjorie Cole-Smith. Wright, a 32-year-old producer at the Alston Stewart owned KLAS FM, was sentenced on March 30, 2007, on two accounts of carnal abuse, having been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenaged girl over a three-year period and having threatened her with death to keep her quiet. The sexual assaults began when the girl was 13 years old.
A suspended sentence for such an abhorrent crime suggests that sexual assault of children is socially sanctioned in Jamaica. When handing down the sentence, Justice Marjorie Cole-Smith said she took into consideration that the character witnesses for Mr. Wright spoke highly of him and that the victim and her mother asked that he not be imprisoned. JFJ questions the wisdom of accepting such a plea from a victim whose life had previously been threatened by the convicted person. JFJ understands the law to mean that sexual relations with a child under the age of consent which is 16 years are illegal, whether the convicted person has good character witnesses or not.
JFJ is not only disturbed by this particular ruling but also by the inequitable and inconsistent functioning of the justice system that this ruling, ultimately, helps to expose. A similar case was heard on April 5, 2007, by Supreme Court Judge Gloria Smith which resulted in a four year jail sentence for 24-year-old Rayon Mason.
Mr. Mason pleaded guilty to three counts of carnal abuse, having had sexual intercourse three times over approximately one month with a 14-year-old girl who is now the mother of his child. In this case, a social enquiry report also spoke highly of the accused and included Mr. Mason’s request for a non–custodial sentence so that he could be a good father to the child. Justice Gloria Smith said she had no choice but to send Mr. Mason to prison because a strong message must be sent to other like-minded men to leave little girls alone. This inconsistency in sentencing for similar crimes is particularly disturbing and likens the Jamaican justice system to a lottery.
The Child Care and Protection Act, 2004, was enacted to protect our children and is to be “interpreted and administered so that the best interests of the child is the paramount consideration and in accordance with the following principles – (a) children are entitled to be protected from abuse, neglect and harm or threat of harm…” The tolerance of violence against children in many cases in Jamaica ultimately favours the impunity of the aggressors and calls into question the political commitment of the government to put an end to these grave human rights violations.
Jamaica can and must put an end to violence against children. The solutions to the issue of violence against children are not limited to punishing the aggressors but such accountability is a necessary step towards transforming the mindset of Jamaican society and the underlying social and economic conditions of violence.
Suspended Sentence in Carnal Abuse Case A Mockery of Justice
Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) considers the suspended sentence handed down to convicted child abuser Floyd Wright a mockery of justice and an incomprehensible ruling by Justice Marjorie Cole-Smith. Wright, a 32-year-old producer at the Alston Stewart owned KLAS FM, was sentenced on March 30, 2007, on two accounts of carnal abuse, having been found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenaged girl over a three-year period and having threatened her with death to keep her quiet. The sexual assaults began when the girl was 13 years old.
A suspended sentence for such an abhorrent crime suggests that sexual assault of children is socially sanctioned in Jamaica. When handing down the sentence, Justice Marjorie Cole-Smith said she took into consideration that the character witnesses for Mr. Wright spoke highly of him and that the victim and her mother asked that he not be imprisoned. JFJ questions the wisdom of accepting such a plea from a victim whose life had previously been threatened by the convicted person. JFJ understands the law to mean that sexual relations with a child under the age of consent which is 16 years are illegal, whether the convicted person has good character witnesses or not.
JFJ is not only disturbed by this particular ruling but also by the inequitable and inconsistent functioning of the justice system that this ruling, ultimately, helps to expose. A similar case was heard on April 5, 2007, by Supreme Court Judge Gloria Smith which resulted in a four year jail sentence for 24-year-old Rayon Mason.
Mr. Mason pleaded guilty to three counts of carnal abuse, having had sexual intercourse three times over approximately one month with a 14-year-old girl who is now the mother of his child. In this case, a social enquiry report also spoke highly of the accused and included Mr. Mason’s request for a non–custodial sentence so that he could be a good father to the child. Justice Gloria Smith said she had no choice but to send Mr. Mason to prison because a strong message must be sent to other like-minded men to leave little girls alone. This inconsistency in sentencing for similar crimes is particularly disturbing and likens the Jamaican justice system to a lottery.
The Child Care and Protection Act, 2004, was enacted to protect our children and is to be “interpreted and administered so that the best interests of the child is the paramount consideration and in accordance with the following principles – (a) children are entitled to be protected from abuse, neglect and harm or threat of harm…” The tolerance of violence against children in many cases in Jamaica ultimately favours the impunity of the aggressors and calls into question the political commitment of the government to put an end to these grave human rights violations.
Jamaica can and must put an end to violence against children. The solutions to the issue of violence against children are not limited to punishing the aggressors but such accountability is a necessary step towards transforming the mindset of Jamaican society and the underlying social and economic conditions of violence.
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