10 Years for Bert Vasquez on Abduction, Sex Charges

Bert Vasquez

Last Friday, Bert Vasquez, convicted by a jury on July tenth of forcible abduction, sexual assault, and harm against a sixteen-year-old minor, which occurred back in May of 2011, continued to protest his innocence before media cameras. He was due to be sentenced by Justice Adolph Lucas, but the case was adjourned to today. But he made no defense at all at mitigation, and was given little sparing by the court. Facing as much as sixteen years, he will serve thirteen concurrently – ten for the abduction, three for the sexual assault. Aaron Humes reports.

Bert Vasquez, Convicted of Forcible Abduction [File: July 21^st, 2017]

“I am innocent and I will fight this thing to the very end. Those who judge me, let them read Matthew about judging other people, because only God can judge me alone. I am innocent.”

Reporter

“Will you appeal?”

Bert Vasquez

“Everything will be appealed if I get found guilty. Even to the C.C.J., because I am innocent.”

Aaron Humes, Reporting

Tonight Bert Vasquez is behind bars, serving the first night of a ten-year prison sentence for forcible abduction and aggravated (indecent) sexual assault. His victim, sixteen years old at the time of the incident in 2011 and twenty-three now, cannot be named for legal reasons. This afternoon, Supreme Court Justice Adolph Lucas handed down concurrent sentences of ten years out of a possible thirteen for the abduction and the maximum three years for the sexual assault, less three months and a week served on remand before he made bail. At trial, according to the minor, she was taken into a vehicle driven at the time by Vasquez in Belize City, while she had been waiting for the bus. The minor alleges that he took her to a location in the Vista Del Mar area where he pistol whipped her causing an injury to her nose and face, and then indecently assaulted her. A struggle ensued and after she scratched him on the face, he hit her with a flash light. Vasquez, says the victim, then told her to get out of the vehicle; she ran and got help from a lady. From the dock, Vasquez denied the victim’s account and called his mother as a witness who testified he was with her at the time. The jury found him guilty after several hours of deliberation. Vasquez and attorney Oscar Selgado waived their right to mitigation pleas and the prosecutor read into the record the victim impact statement from the accuser. Among other things, she explained that in the aftermath of the incident, she did many harmful things to herself and withdrew from the world, scared that she saw Vasquez’s face on every man she encountered. She continues to receive counseling and is now a mother herself, but she fears that she may never fully get back the life she had before the incident, including going to school. Attorney Selgado did not indicate whether his client would pursue an appeal. Aaron Humes reporting for News Five.

Even as Vasquez goes behind bars tonight, he awaits trial for the murder of Jasmine Lowe, a young girl from San Ignacio, for which he was remanded in 2012. Prosecutor in the case was Crown Counsel Sherigne Rodriguez.