ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) — A High Court judge has sentenced a 33-year-old man to seven years in jail after he pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with his 10-year-old sister.

Justice Victoria Charles described the action of the accused as “deplorable (and) unacceptable”.

John was indicted on a charge of incest, indecent assault and unlawful sexual connection on his sister. He pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful sexual connection with the prosecution withdrawing the other charges.

“The court is reminded of its responsibilities to protect children; his conduct is reprehensible to say the least. The child was placed in his trust; his attitude is not only deplorable but (also) unacceptable. He needs to be clearly put away from society.

“A strong message must be sent out given the prevalence of such cases in Dominica, society and victims need to be protected,” the judge said.

The court was told that the incident occurred in 2014 when his sister, who had gone out one evening, left the child in his care.

The child reported the matter and on examination by doctors, she was admitted to the Princess Margaret Hospital.

John’s attorney Peter Alleyne told the court that his client has indicated his bad feelings towards the incident and was “unhappy at what had happened and was willing to apologise to his sister.

“He lost his self-control and respect… he should have never allowed that to happen to him, he is sorry for his actions and is hoping to make it up to her in the future,” he said.

A social inquiry report stated that the child was now “fearful of her brother, was embarrassed and shameful” about the incident. Her parents said that she had shown signs of “withdrawals and was disobedient”. The report also stated that her brother had not directly expressed remorse and maintains that she was the “aggressors”.

The prosecution said the aggravating factors in the matter are that the two are siblings, the age of the child, John betrayed his sister’s trust, the incident happened more than once, he showed no remorse, and that she had suffered mental and emotional scars.