Man sentenced to 18 years in jail for attempted rape of 4-Y-O

A Region Three (Essequibo Islands–West Demerara) man convicted of attempting to rape a four-year-old child has been sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment following the conclusion of a High Court trial in Demerara today.

Ganesh Lewis, 44, of St Lawrence, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), appeared before Chief Justice (acting) Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court, where the sentencing exercise was conducted after a jury unanimously found him guilty of attempted rape of a child under the age of 16.

In arriving at the sentence, the court adopted a starting point of 20 years’ imprisonment for the offence. This was reduced by five years after the court considered a favourable probation report presented on Lewis’ behalf. However, the sentence was increased by three years due to the extreme youthfulness of the victim and the court’s finding that Lewis showed no remorse for his actions. The final sentence imposed was therefore 18 years’ imprisonment.

However, no time would be deducted from the sentence, as Lewis was on bail throughout the proceedings and did not spend any time on remand.

In addition to the custodial sentence, the court made further orders concerning the welfare of the child. It directed that the Department of Social Services, or any other suitable agency that has been providing counselling to the child victim, should continue or resume counselling services in relation to the offence until such time as the relevant entity determines that such intervention is no longer required.

Lewis was charged under the Sexual Offences Act, Chapter 8:03, with two counts, rape of a child under 16 and attempted rape of a child under 16, arising from an incident that occurred on August 2, 2022, in a shed annexed to his brother’s barbershop. The trial was also conducted before Justice Singh.

At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a not-guilty verdict on the rape charge but found Lewis guilty on the alternative count of attempted rape.

According to the prosecution’s case, a resident visited the barbershop, which was closed at the time, and noticed movement in a nearby shed. Upon investigating, the resident reportedly observed Lewis with his pants down, while the child’s pants were also down, and saw Lewis standing behind the child in a compromising position. The resident confronted Lewis, who subsequently left the area with the child.

The child’s family, who knew Lewis as a close family friend, was informed, and the matter was reported to the police. Lewis was arrested on August 4, 2022, and denied the allegations.

In his defence, Lewis told the court that he had been asleep at home when the child called out to him. He claimed that he later went to the barbershop area after hearing noises and said he was merely lifting the child off a stool when the resident arrived and misinterpreted the situation.

However, the prosecution rejected Lewis’ account as implausible, pointing out that the barbershop was closed and not within earshot of his home, making it unlikely that he could have heard any disturbance. Lewis was first charged on January 27, 2023, and following a preliminary inquiry, he was committed to stand trial on September 21, 2024, after a magistrate ruled that a prima facie case had been established.

He was represented by attorney-at-law Ronald Bostwick, while the prosecution team was led by Simran Gajraj, with Christopher Belfield and Geneva Wills.