Collin Venture, 41, who repeatedly raped a teenage girl, has been jailed for 16 years. Evidence revealed that he groomed the 13-year-old girl before raping her on three separate occasions.
Venture, a security guard formerly of Sophia, Greater Georgetown, was sent to prison on Wednesday by Demerara Sexual Offences Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall.
Earlier this month, he was found guilty of three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16 years old.
After deliberating for over two hours, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on each of the three counts, finding that Venture had raped the child between September and October of 2020.
Following the verdicts, Venture, who had been out on $150,000 bail, was remanded to prison pending his sentencing hearing, which was set for Wednesday. During those proceedings, the rape survivor, who is now 15, shared that the incident has left her traumatized, and has caused her to be skeptical about the people around her.
At first, she expressed that she was upset with herself, “because I felt like I caused it to happen to me. When it happened, I would feel bad about myself,” she added.
According to her, during Venture’s trial, she was scared because she thought she would not have gotten justice.
Despite the verdicts by the jury of his peers, Venture has maintained his innocence during an interview with a probation officer. He told the officer that he found the verdicts “troublesome” because he is “not that kind of person”. Notwithstanding, in his address to the court, he told the Judge: “I am very sorry for this whole situation. I apologise for everything, Your Honour.”
During a plea in mitigation on his behalf, Defence Counsel Alaira Murphy-Goodman asked the court for leniency in its sentencing, considering that her client is a first-time offender, who supports his children.
The lawyer said it is unfortunate that her client has found himself in this situation.
State Counsels Cecilia Corbin, Caressa Henry and Paneeta Persaud prosecuted this matter. Prosecutor Corbin implored the Judge to impose a sentence that is commensurate with the serious nature and prevalence of the offence. She said that such offences have escalated to an unprecedented high.
For her part, Justice Morris-Ramlall, in her sentencing remarks, admonished Venture for taking advantage of the minor. Highlighting that Venture and the girl’s stepmother and father were friends, Justice Morris-Ramlall said he had abused his position of trust by preying on the girl.
According to the presiding Judge, the convict was not satisfied with raping the girl once, so he went on to do it two more times. Referencing parts of the probation report, she said that Venture has not accepted responsibility for his actions.
She further said that his expression of remorse was not genuine, as he only “expressed regret for the situation…whatever that means.”
Given that Venture was a mature adult at the time he committed the offence, the Judge noted that he ought to have exercised better judgement.
Having considered the nature and prevalence of the offences, and the circumstances under which they were committed, Justice Morris-Ramlall sentenced Venture to 14, 15, and 16-years’ imprisonment on the first, second and third counts respectively. The three sentences will run concurrently.
It was further ordered by the Judge that Venture must subject himself to counselling for persons convicted of sexual offences, starting from September.
According to the facts, Venture is known to the teenage girl, and was in the habit of taking her into a toilet behind a shop near her home, where he would rape her.
The matter came to light only after the girl’s stepmother had searched her phone and discovered some very disturbing messages exchanged between the girl and Venture.
The young girl was confronted, and she admitted that Venture had raped her.
A report was made to the Police, and Venture was arrested and prosecuted.
