46-year-old Sheldon Lynch was yesterday found guilty of raping a child on two occasions and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences by High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall.
A 12-member jury on Tuesday found him guilty of raping a 10-year-old girl between December 7, 2010 and January 25, 2013 in the Essequibo district.
The jury considered the evidence after a few days of trial and returned unanimous verdicts on two counts of rape of a child under 16. However, the jury could not determine the verdicts for a third and fourth count.
Lynch will spend a minimum of 35 years on each conviction before being paroled.
In the victim’s address to the court, she detailed a harrowing account and said that she thought about suicide whenever she remembered what Lynch did to her.
Justice Ramlall, in handing down the sentence, observed that the girl trusted the offender and he violated her, treating her as if she was a woman.
“You have scarred her for life,” the Judge expressed, noting that the offender did not show remorse after being found guilty.
Lynch was represented by Attorney-at-Law Clyde Forde, who had petitioned for the court to temper justice with mercy.
The State was represented by Seeta Bishundial and Orinthia Schmidt.
