KINGSTON, Jamaica — A 29-year-old taxi operator was on Tuesday freed of sex charges in the St Catherine Circuit Court.

The taxi operator was being tried on allegations that he had been having sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16 and also grievous sexual touching.

He was freed by a panel of seven jurors who returned the not-guilty verdict after 40 minutes of deliberations.

The prosecution’s case was that on August 24, 2012 the accused, who would normally transport the accused to school, took her to his home where he had sex with her and had her perform certain acts.

A month later, the complainant reportedly told her stepmother what had occurred.

But in his defence, the accused, who was represented by Peter Champagnie, said the complainant fabricated the story because she feared telling of her sexual encounters with other men in the community.

In his address to the jury, Champagnie also alluded to a number of inconsistencies in the evidence of the complainant.

Paul Henry