15 Years in Jail for Rapist Grandfather, 67

A67-year-old man was sentenced by the High Court to almost 15 years in jail after being convicted of sex-related offences.

The grandfather of Tailevu appeared before Justice Riyaz Hamza on Friday.

He was charged with six counts of rape, one count of indecently annoying any person and one count of sexual assault.

He had pleaded guilty to one of the six counts of rape. The man was not found guilty to one of the rape counts and was acquitted accordingly.

The trial proper was conducted for nine days before Justice Hamza and in presence of three assessors.

The incidents occurred between January 1, 2012, and August 31, 2015, in Tailevu.

The victim, the accused’s paternal granddaughter, was eight years old at the time of the incidents.

While sentencing the man, Justice Hamza said the victim was emotionally and psychologically traumatised.

“Being the grandfather of the victim you should have protected her, but instead you breached her trust.

“You exposed her to such acts at a very early age when she was naïve and innocent,” Justice Hamza said.

“The victim was only eight years old when you began to abuse her. “You have abused her and raped her over a long period of time. You have an age gap of 53 years with the victim.”

Justice Hamza told the court that the man had four active previous convictions recorded.

He noted that the man was remanded in custody from September 24, 2015, to March 7, 2016. Justice Hamza had noted the period of time spent in remand was to be subtracted from the initial sentence.

The man was sentenced to 14 years and six months imprisonment with a non-parole of 10 years and six months.

The man was given 30 days to appeal to the Court of Appeal.