…And Jimmy Espat convicted of raping Canadian tourist

After three hours of deliberations, a jury of seven women and two men today found a man Guilty of Rape. Thirty year-old Jimmy Jerry Espat was convicted of the rape of a thirty year old Canadian woman, which occurred around one-thirty on the morning of April first, 2007 in a cemetery in Santa Elena Town, Cayo. The complainant testified that she met Espat at a club while she was waiting for a friend. She said she and Espat began to drink together and he later invited her to visit his mother’s grave. She obliged, but when they reached the graveyard, Espat assaulted her and she tried to walk away. But that was when things got out of hand. Espat threatened the woman, saying that he had a knife and then hit her in the face. The woman said she fell to the ground and Espat took advantage of the situation and raped her. Espat, who was undefended, gave an unsworn dock statement, in which he admitted that he had sexual intercourse with the woman. But it was consensual and that in fact she was the one who propositioned him! The jury did not buy his version and found him guilty. Justice Adolph Lucas who heard the case, will sentence Espat on March sixth in order to give Espat time to prepare a plea for mitigation. Crown Counsel Trinia Young prosecuted the case.