Rapist gets 22 years

Her Majesty’s Prison will be home for Clifton Rodney for the next seven years.

Rodney, who pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, one count of wounding and one count of inflicting grievous bodily harm, was sentenced to five years each on both counts of rape, five years for wounding and seven years for grievous bodily harm. The sentences will run concurrently, dating back to the time of his arrest in 2006.{{more}}

The 19-year-old New Prospect resident was charged with raping two Florida teenagers on May 30, 2006, and harming their mother.

Mitigating on his client’s behalf, Counsel Bertram Stapleton told the court that his client was indeed remorseful for his actions and that he (Rodney) along with his other accomplices intended only to get money from the women and not rape them. Stapleton noted that his client’s involvement was very minimal since he had just held one of the girls. The lawyer pleaded with Justice Gertel Thom to impose a custodial sentence at the lowest end of the scale for Rodney’s remorse and his early guilty plea.

Director of Public Prosecutions Colin Williams said that even though Rodney had little involvement in the matter, he played the role of subduing the mother by physical force.

Before handing down her sentence, Justice Thom chalked up Rodney’s actions to following bad company. “This is the reason you find yourself before me today and it is because of your habit of smoking marijuana,” said Thom. Thom noted that the victims in the matter were young and that he not only caused the victims and relatives extreme pain, but also the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

On June 29 last year, two of the other three men, Junior Garfield Morgan, 19, of New Prospect, and Nyron Morgan, 25, were sentenced to 20 years at the High Court after they pleaded guilty to the charges in the same matter. Leroy Rodney is the lone defendant who pleaded not guilty and is still on remand at Her Majesty’s Prison.