Linden taxi driver rapes 11-year-old, sentenced to 12 years imprisonment

Guyana: A 32-year-old taxi driver had been recently sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment for committing the offence of rape on an 11-year-old girl from Linden, Region 10.

The authorities have revealed that the document name of the 32-year-old taxi driver is Evon Barker. They even shared that the tragic incident happened in February 2022. The identity of the survivor has been undisclosed.

According to the details shared by the family of the victim, they had hired Evon as a taxi driver to take the 11-year-old rape victim to drop her somewhere. Rather than taking her to the provided destination, the driver took her to some other place and attempted to rape the minor girl.

The report shared by authorities mentions that the victim and the taxi driver were acquaintances, as the suspect and the victim’s elder sister were earlier in a romantic relationship.

In recent events, Barker was presented before the Demerara High Court for a hearing. During the hearing, Justice Sandil Kissoon strongly criticised him for his extremely unacceptable behaviour and for violating the law.

Evon Barker, in his defence stated that he was unaware of the fact that the victim was underage, he further added that he is guilty of what he committed. Barker pleaded for forgiveness and shared that he had been praying to God, seeking forgiveness, and admitting to his mistake.

Barker even shared that he has a four-year-old daughter, and his wife is expecting another child.

After hearing the plea, Justice Sandil Kissoon marked the incident as unacceptable. Before giving the verdict the Justice stated that, “taxi drivers and other persons providing public services are held to a higher standard because of the trust bestowed upon them.”

The convict was initially sentenced to imprisonment of 18 years, but after hearing about his family, the Justice gave the verdict of 12 years imprisonment by deducting one-third of the punishment. He was even mandated to attend the prison service’s sex offenders’ programmes.

After the decision of the suspect’s imprisonment, the survivor shared that she was “happy” and “satisfied” with the judgement. The minor even shared that after the incident, she tried ending her life several times, and in a sad tone, she mentioned that it is hard for her to trust males now.

Evon Barker was represented by Attorney-at-Law Ronald Bostwick, while State Counsel Nafeeza Baig and State Counsel Latifah Elliot appeared on behalf of the prosecution.