Two Teens Charged with Rape of Fourteen Year-old Girl

Norman Rodriquez

Two youths who are charged with the rape of a fourteen-year-old girl were today arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court. They are eighteen-year-old Ikwan Reneau and a sixteen-year-old minor. The arraignment took all day as the issue of whether bail should be granted to the two accused persons was being contemplated. In the end, the senior magistrate denied bail to Reneau and he was remanded to the Belize Central Prison. However, the minor’s case for bail consideration was adjourned for Wednesday, January seventeenth, so he was remanded today to the Wagner’s Youth Facility. The magistrate has tasked the Community Rehabilitation Department to find out first what security the school has in place as it relates to the safety of the victim who goes to school on the North side of Belize City and who has to come into contact with the accused minor. First to be arraigned was the minor, who was accompanied by his mother and his attorneys, Norman Rodriguez and Andrew Bennett. Rodriguez explains the process of the minor’s bail application.

Norman Rodriquez, Attorney for Ikwan Reneau

“The fact that the minor’s bail application is still under consideration is something good for him, and fortunately, it’s not because of his age – him being a minor – but the fact that the court considers that he’s a student going to school, that can have a significant impact on his future. But in court today, the prosecution objected,  and the prosecution strongly objected, which is fair. We expect that the prosecution will come and do its job. The objection was on section 16 of the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act. However, for the minor, the court is considering its application, like I said, based on the public interest. The other person, Mr. Reneau was denied bail and he now has to apply to the Supreme Court, where he can get bail.”