A 72-year-old man was on Friday sentenced to just under five years in prison after being found guilty of carnal abuse of a female relative 30 years ago.

Describing the matter as a “historical sexual abuse case” the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said that in 2013 the complainant reported two instances of carnal abuse, 20 years after the incidents.

At the time she made the report the complainant was 27 years old.

“The complainant gave evidence that she became aware that she could still report the crime, notwithstanding the time which had passed, as she had been previously urged by relatives not to report the incidents,” the ODPP said in a news release Friday.

“At the time of giving her evidence at trial the complainant was 36 years old,” the ODPP added.

Pointing out that the man was indicted on two counts, the ODPP said the evidence at trial in respect to the first count was that on an unknown day between January 1, 1993 and December 31, 1993 the complainant went to stay at her grandmother’s house while her mother was at work.

“At some point the grandmother left her alone at the house and the convict came inside the house and had sexual intercourse with her. He then threatened her not to report it. At that time the complainant was seven years old and the convict was 42 years old,” the ODPP said.

On the second count on the indictment the evidence led was that on a day between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 1999 the complainant went to the convicted man’s house, along with two minor relatives.

“At some point during the day the complainant was feeling sleepy and went into the convicted man’s one-room dwelling house where she fell asleep. She was awoken from her sleep by the convict who was having sexual intercourse with her,” the ODPP stated.

On March 28, 2023 the convict appeared before the St Mary Circuit Court and pleaded not guilty to two counts of carnal abuse before Justice Kissock Laing. Thereafter a trial by a judge and a seven-member jury commenced and, upon completion, he was found guilty of both counts on March 31, 2023.

On April 14, 2023 the convict was sentenced to four years and 11 months at hard labour on count one, and two years and 11 months at hard labour on count two of the indictment. The sentences are to run concurrently.

On Saturday DPP Paula Llewellyn told the Jamaica Observer that this was the fourth or fifth such historical sexual abuse case that her office has prosecuted since she was appointed in 2003.

“What we find is that these cases are very hard to prosecute. Credibility is usually at the heart of these cases. The ones that we have successfully prosecuted have four elements in common; one, the complainants were children in the care of their parent or guardian; two, the alleged perpetrator is usually a family member or a very close friend of the family; three, usually because of the family situation she didn’t get the support in making the complaint; and fourth, what I’ve found with all of them is that as an adult, the complainant has achieved economic independence away from the family,” Llewellyn explained.

She said that in the just-concluded case the complainant, having been separated from her family and raised in State care, was now a qualified professional.

Llewellyn also said that in these matters the prosecution has an uphill task because the credibility threshold is very high as the court has to get an explanation, evidentially, as to why the complainant did not make a report, even when she became an adult at age 18. Additionally, she said, the family never supports the complainant.

The DPP commended the complainant for reporting the matter, describing her as “very courageous”, a characteristic which, she said, was evident in the other complainants in the previous cases.

“I remember there was one case where the complainant was very well supported by her husband and as soon as she went into the witness box the accused, who was her father and was still married to her mother, changed his plea to guilty.”

Pointing out that in that case the complainant made the report 20 years after the abuse, Llewellyn explained that a lot of people do not know that when they become adults they can still report the abuse, as criminal matters are not statute-barred.

She said that sexual abuse cases are regarded as historical when the complainant makes the report at least 15 years after the assault.

In the just-concluded matter the prosecution was represented by Tamara Merchant, assistant director of public prosecutions, and Christina Porter, Crown counsel, while the defence was represented by attorney Veroneeth Marie McKenzie-Morris.