A 45-year-old father of three was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in the Home Circuit Court yesterday for raping a policeman’s 13-year-old daughter.

The man, Courtney Samuels, who lived in the same yard as his victim in the Central Kingston area, was found guilty of raping the girl in his room while his wife and children were at church on June 19, 2005, between the hours of 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm.

Shortly before the incident took place, the court was told, the victim was in her room when Samuels barged in and made sexual advances at her, which she rejected.

The court was told that the victim, who appeared to be about five feet tall and weighing approximately 90 pounds, then went outside her house where she lives with her grandmother, when she was pounced upon by the six-foot-plus, heavy-set Samuels, who grabbed her, pulled her into his room and raped her.

Following the incident, the girl tried unsuccessfully to contact her father but only managed to do so two days after her ordeal. The matter was reported to the police and the victim taken to the hospital. Samuels was arrested and charged eight days later.

Still maintaining his innocence, Samuels broke down after the sentencing and started recounting the story of his life, which included being sexually abused when he was 10 years old.

On Tuesday Samuels, a plumber, said in an unsworn statement to the court that “I don’t know why she [the victim] brought me here .. [But] I am willing to do whatever time, if the jury find me guilty”.

During his closing argument, Crown Council Vaughn Smith reminded jurors of Samuels’ willingness to serve time while asking: “Are these the words of an innocent man or are these the words of a man whose conscience has got the better of him?”

Reacting to an earlier statement by Samuels that he would give his life to the Lord because of his situation, Justice Jennifer Straw advised him that he would have to come clean with God if he was going to do so.