Farm worker convicted of raping ten year old girl

Two years ago, the violent details of the rape of a ten year old girl stunned the society. Today a jury convicted thirty-eight year old farm worker Rene Chavez Ramos of the crime. During the trial, the young victim testified that on August second, she was at home taking care of her younger brothers and sisters when Chavez came to the door asking for food and water. But the girl says when she went to the outside kitchen to get the items, the accused attacked her. She ran and managed to lock herself inside the house but testified that Chavez kicked down the door and choked her until she lost consciousness. When the child woke up, she was in a pool of her own blood and in terrible pain. Her father found her in that condition when he came in from work and immediately rushed her to a clinic in Benque. The victim was later transferred to the Belmopan Hospital where doctors performed emergency surgery to stem the loss of blood. Chavez took the stand in his defence and claimed innocence, maintaining he was still living in Guatemala City on the day of the attack. He even called his boss, Trinidad De La Fuente, to support his alibi that his first trip to Belize was on August twenty-seventh. But De La Fuente told the court that Chavez had in fact been in Belize earlier that month. The jury spent two and a half hours in deliberation before returning with a guilty verdict. Justice Herbert Lord has deferred sentencing until April twenty-fifth.