He said he didn’t beat toddler; he fell

Carldeen Lawrence

Twenty-year old Carldeen Lawrence was convicted of Grievous Harm last Thursday reportedly because he beat his two year old stepdaughter and fractured her leg on June eighth, 2011. Lawrence chose to remain silent during trial and simply asked the court for leniency in mitigation. But today, he decided to speak out and came to our studios. Lawrence says he never beat the child and that the injury was accidental. 

Carldeen Lawrence, Convicted of Grievous Harm

“I was coming inside the house and the child was behind me and I spinned to finish going back inside and I was going to fall on the smallest child, which was Britney. For not hitting her, I spinned again and then I fell on Courtenay who was on the bed inside sitting down and then I accidentally fractured her foot.”

Delahnie Bain

“So in court you were charged for harm?”

Carldeen Lawrence

“Grievous Harm.”

Delahnie Bain

“Okay, and what happened there?”

Carldeen Lawrence

“Well, when I was there, the prosecutor—we were going for recess and when I came back the prosecutor told me that it doesn’t make sense if I say anything because grievous harm is grievous harm and I would be charged for it no matter what. But I spoke to a lawyer today who said that—well, everyone should already know but I’m not a person that always go to court or be involved in things that have to do with court so I thought the prosecutor was on my side. Then the lawyer told me that since it was an accident, I could have still brought in my witness to speak and it could have turned out a different way than it had the day.”

Delahnie Bain

“And now knowing that you could have had your witness go in and speak, do you plan to do anything or just…”

Carldeen Lawrence

“Well, I was going to file an appeal but in order for me to get an attorney to do that would cost me one thousand, two hundred dollars and I don’t have that money so I have to leave it as it is for right now.”

Delahnie Bain

“The information we originally got was that you beat the child and that’s what led to the charges. Do you know where that information came from?”

Carldeen Lawrence

“Well as far as I was aware, they say the information came from the prosecutor, which is as you think about it, anyone with common sense can know that if you beat a child with a belt, you can never fracture the foot regardless of how hard you’re beating or how long you beat the child.”

Lawrence was fined eight hundred to be paid by May fifteenth. He says he went to pay the first part of his fine today, but his name was not yet registered in the system. Meanwhile, the children are now in the custody of their biological father.