Two men were granted bail totalling $195,000 on charges of raping a 12-year-old girl who had been missing for four months. Vaughn Lester McDonald, 31, and Jamal Williams, 23, both of Marabella, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington in the San Fernando Magistrates Court on separate charges of rape yesterday. The men were arrested after the girl was found by members of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, Marabella CID and Southern Division Task Force in a house in Marabella.
McDonald, of Silk Cotton Road, Battoo Avenue, Marabella, is charged with four counts of having sexual intercourse with a female who is not his wife and under the age of 14. The offences allegedly occurred in Marabella on dates unknown between the period November 30 and March 5. Williams, of Battoo Avenue, Marabella, was charged with one count of having sexual intercourse with a female who is not his wife and under the age of 14.
It is alleged that the rape took place in Marabella on a date unknown between the period November 30 and January 1. Both men were represented by attorney Shaun Teekasingh. In his bail application for McDonald, Teekasingh said the accused has a 13-year-old child and a few convictions for marijuana possession and larceny. He said McDonald does not live close to the victim. Regarding Williams, Teekasingh said he was a first time offender.
The magistrate granted McDonald $150,000 bail with a clerk of the peace approval. He, however, refused to grant Teekasingh’s request for a cash bail alternative. Williams was granted $45,000 bail with clerk of the peace approval and a cash alternative of $30,000. Both men are supposed to reappear in court on April 13.