HE went to prison for sexually violating a child.

Today, he is out on parole after spending half of a 10-year sentence, and along with some activists, he claims to be reformed.

The man, during his time served, also completed an associate’s degree through a memorandum of understanding between the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), human rights group Stand Up for Jamaica, and the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC).

“The charge is sex with a person under the age of 16. I got 10 years and I spent five years. The time spent inside was somewhat sobering. There are limited rehabilitation programmes so any reform has to be from your end, first and foremost. I think that I came out a better person, with a mindset to be a law-abiding, productive citizen,” the man told the Jamaica Observer last Wednesday.

According to the Sexual Offences Act, a person who has sexual intercourse with another person who is under the age of 16 years commits an offence.

Also, any person who attempts to have sexual intercourse with any person under the age of 16 years commits an offence.

It is a defence for a person 23 years of age or under who is charged for the first time with any such offence, to show that he or she had reasonable cause to believe that the other person was of or over the age of 16 years.

The ex-inmate, however, knew the child’s age.

When asked if he regrets his gross action towards a minor, the man answered in the affirmative.

“Of course I am,” he said.

He will receive his Associate of Science in Business Administration on July 16, having benefited from a UCC scholarship valued at $300,000 for two years.

“I am open. That’s the past. The family, the community, the feeling is always mutual so I have not experienced any form of stigmatisation so far,” he continued.

Sonia Davidson, head of department for business administration at UCC, told the Sunday Observer that the programme is important.

“It provides an avenue for preparing the inmates to reintegrate into society. These candidates, in particular, made use of the DCS’s provisions to gain additional CSEC [Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate] subjects and now qualify for university entry. In the degree programme they are taught skills in accounting, marketing, entrepreneurship, and supervisory management, to name a few,” she said.

Davidson added that some players were sceptical at first.

“We have, however, seen the spirit of the DCS and Stand Up for Jamaica teams in making this possible. The inmates are given every opportunity to achieve. Now, everyone has praises for the programme and wish to see it expanded.”

He said the UCC scholarship has played an integral role in his reintegration into society.

“It wasn’t surprising; I think UCC has shown a higher level of corporate social responsibility in that regard. It was absolutely non-discriminatory, and you don’t get the feeling that because we are inmates we should not have gotten that sort of benefit. The UCC really provided an opportunity for reintegration,” he said.

“It was shocking that the DCS allowed us to be a part of the programme. My first impression of DCS is that it tends to block everything that is of benefit to inmates, under the guise of security. Anything that is beneficial, the ‘security first’ mantra is put forward,” he continued.

Executive director of Stand Up for Jamaica Carla Gullotta said the first batch of inmates graduated with honours, and that has encouraged all parties on board to increase the number who benefit.

“So this year, instead of one batch we have three batches in three different institutions. It is showing that rehabilitation is possible, but it is also showing that when you offer an opportunity to our incarcerated people they take it and they do very well,” Gullotta told the Sunday Observer.

“Empowering people means giving them the possibility to build back their lives to support their families, support their children, work and show their communities that their punishment has somehow been transformed in building a better person,” she added, noting that feedback from inmates suggests that they are enthusiastic about the programme.

Meanwhile, the ex-inmate added: “From my perspective, 95 per cent of the correctional officers don’t embrace it but if you take it from the UCC perspective, they have done an excellent job in ensuring that we who are inmates and a part of the programme are successful.

“They didn’t just give us the course and leave us. They are there with us, updating us, finding out how we are going and how things are. And if it is a matter where things are not going in the direction where it ought to go, they put in the necessary things to ensure that we benefit significantly from the programme.”