At about 2:32 p.m., on Friday evening, a jury of eight women and one man, who had deliberated for three hours and twenty-one minutes, emerged from the deliberating room and announced that 42-year-old self employed resident of Baracat Street, Bernard Pratt ,was guilty of four counts of carnal knowledge.

On the first count, the jury’s decision was not unanimous. It was at a proportion of 7:2. The verdict was the same on

Since Pratt was unrepresented, Justice Herbert Lord asked him how much time he thinks he needs for mitigation plea.  He said a week and sentencing was set for July 23, which is this Friday.

Pratt, who has since denied the allegations, was caught inside the child’s room by her sister who yelled out at him and he became frightened and jumped off the child and began to tremble. That was sometime in June or July of 2008. Although the victim and her sister had told their grandparents of the sexual act, their cries for help went unheard. At the time, the grandmother was in shock over the allegations made by the children and she failed to report the incident to police until five months later.

The alleged sex crime occurred between June 1 and July 31, 2008 in Western Belize, at a home the child frequented with her sister.
During the trial, the child who testified in-camera this past Monday, told the court that while she could not remember the exact dates Pratt had sex with her, she did recall that school had just closed for summer in2008.  She said that in the first instance Pratt climbed through a window of her bedroom and hid inside her closet then awaited until she was in her bed to crawl and lay beside her and later had sex with her.

On the second occasion, he sent her sister to buy at the shop and that’s when he forced the child to have sex with him again. After having sex, he left exiting through the window.  According to the child, Pratt waited until the children’s grandmother had gone to a wake before sexually assaulting her.

On the third occasion, Pratt sneaked again into her bedroom through the window and had sex with her; on that night, the child’s sister caught him. In the sister’s testimony, she related that she saw Pratt climb through the window and went on top of her sister and that’s when she yelled out to him, “Pratt”.  That’s when he jumped up off her sister and grabbed the sheet.  Pratt then went to her and whispered in her ears and asked her if he could sleep next to her. The sister told him no and that’s when he began to tremble and then left the room.

Pratt visited the child’s room on a fourth night and had sex with the child. On that occasion, he threatened her to keep it a secret. That time, after molesting her, he slept next to her and told her that if they should ask anything about what they have been doing, never say anything even if they should beat her. The child said she was afraid, hence the reason why she did not tell her grandmother right away.
 
The grandmother testified and told the court that she never believed the children’s story because she could not believe Pratt would do such a thing to her granddaughter. In November 2008, after the grandmother finally realized the seriousness of the children’s allegations against Pratt, she reported the matter, and in December 2008, at the end of the police investigation, Pratt was charged with four counts of carnal knowledge.
  
In his defence, Pratt told the court that he is a self employed person who works hard. He told the court that he rides 16 miles from Hattieville to Belize City everyday to sell fudge that he makes. He said that he did not do the crime, as in June and July 2008, he was nowhere near the home where the child claimed the incident occurred.  He then called his ex-girlfriend to testify on his behalf. She told the court that in June, July 2008, Pratt was living with her and that he was always at her home and nowhere else.