Man Imprisoned For Gross Indecency With A Child Taking Place Over Several Years, Beginning When She Was Nine-Years-Old

By Alric Lindsay

According to a sentence judgment dated April 15, 2026, a man has been imprisoned for five years for repeated acts of gross indecency with a child, staring when she was nine years old and ending when she was thirteen years old. The man’s proposed sentence was initially higher but reduced for his early guilty plea and mitigating factors.

Based on the judgment, count 3 was the offence of gross indecency with a child, whereas, on multiple occasions, between February 8 and 21, 2020 and October 17 2024, he took a child into a bedroom and touched her breasts.  The child was under 16, specifically between 10 and 13 years of age.

For count 5, he was charged with the same offence, whereas, on multiple occasions, he did digital touching of the girl’s vagina. This happened on eight or nine occasions.

For count 9, he was charged with the same offence, whereas, on multiple occasions, he touched her vagina with his penis, specifically slapping his penis on her vagina.

Counts 1, 2, 4, 6, 4, 7, 8, 10, and 11 were left on file for possible future prosecution.

The judgment described the circumstances where the victim and her mother were invited into the man’s home to live.  The victim slept in the living room on a mattress with other relatives in a house with the man, who is described as her step-grandfather.

The victim’s account is that when she was around nine years old, the man began sexually abusing her. On multiple occasions, he would enter the living room, gather the victim up in his arms and carry her to an empty bedroom. There, the man would sexually abuse the victim.

The sexual abuse began with the touching of the victim’s breast area under clothes. The first time this occurred, the victim recalled she was around nine years old.

He would also rub the victim’s vagina and backside with his hands.

The  man’s offending escalated to undressing the victim, taking out his penis and slapping it repeatedly onto the victim’s naked genitalia.
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The victim recalled that this happened around 8 or 9 times. The last time she recalled this happening to her was when she turned thirteen.

The abuse ended on October 17, 2024, when the victim revealed what had been happening to her mother via a series of WhatsApp messages.

The man was arrested on November 4, 2024 and interviewed by the police. He denied that he had ever touched the victim in a sexual manner.

The Department of Community Rehabilitation (“DCR”) provided a Victim Impact Report dated January 29, 2026 (“VIR”). The victim shared that she has suffered significant harm emotionally and psychologically. She stated that she is no longer trusting of  persons, particularly in her own family, as she was abused by someone who is a trusted family  member. She also shared that her academic performance has suffered as a result of her not being  able to remain focused at school, and that she constantly replays the abuse in her mind and tries to block out painful memories.

The social inquiry report provided for the man’s sentencing noted that he is sixty-one years old and married with one child, who is an adult.

Based on the report, the man migrated to the Cayman Islands for work purposes in 2006 and has lived here ever since. The man shared that he was raised in a home with humble financial means, but his basic needs were met. He did not observe any domestic violence in the home, but reported that he himself was sexually assaulted at a very young age. He denied that this sexual abuse played any role in this offence. He said that at the time he did not feel any way about it, and he carried on as normal.

When sentencing the man, the judgment said that the starting point was six years’ custody.

Given the multiplicity of the offending, the starting point was increased from six to eight years.

Since the offences took place in the victim’s home, where she was entitled to feel safe, the sentence was increased to 9 years (108 months).

However, this was reduced to 90 months after his lawyer made several pleadings in his favour, including that the man:

** has no previous convictions

** is of good character

** is genuinely remorseful and has taken  responsibility for his actions

** is willing to participate in rehabilitative programmes.

The court also considered that the man was facing financial hardship and that incarceration would affect him at his age and would also affect his wife, who would be left without financial support.

The sentence was further reduced by one-third for his early guilty plea.  This resulted in a sentence of 60 months. (Time served is to be taken into account.)

The Court considered that the proposed sentence was proportionate to the offending in this case.

While in custody, the man is to receive sexual offender management treatment as recommended by the probation officer.

The prosecution applied for a sexual harm prevention order for an indefinite period. The Court found that such an order was necessary to protect the victim and children from the man and put in place an order for five years following the release of the defendant from prison.

Note to readers

According to the sentence judgment, the maximum sentence for the offence of Gross Indecency with a child is 12 years’ imprisonment.

However, defence counsel often argues that proposed sentences be reduced by one-third for early guilty pleas and further reduced for mitigating factors.  These mitigating factors include the following:

** No prior convictions and whether the defendant is a man of previous good character

** Low criminal history risk score.

** Low risk of sexual reoffending

** Acceptance of responsibility — the defendant admitted to the offences and cooperated with the DCR

** Positive work history — over twenty years of consistent, law-abiding employment in the Cayman Islands

** Personal vulnerability — the defendant himself suffered childhood sexual abuse, which is offered as context and not as an excuse

** Difficult personal and financial circumstances — the defendant is currently unemployed, without income, and is in a current state of financial hardship at best.

** Willingness to engage in rehabilitation — the defendant has expressed willingness to participate in treatment programs to address his offending behaviour.

Reductions for all of the foregoing are common in Cayman court cases. However, members of the public are generally unaware of this fact.

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