BAIL was denied to a Belmont man yesterday when he appeared in the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court on 24 sex-related charges allegedly committed against a 14-year-old girl over a one-year period.
The accused, Adeknu Emmanuel Johnson, 28, of Upper Layan Hill, appeared before Magistrate Maureen Baboolal-Gafoor in the Seventh Court charged with committing the acts of rape, buggery and indecent assault on the girl in Belmont, St Clair and St Ann’s.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between March last year and May of this year.
Upon his appearance before the magistrate, Johnson was not called upon to plead to any of the charges as they were all laid indictably.
His attorney, Garvin Ramseepaul, in his application for bail said Johnson did not have a criminal record and had never been brought before the court charged with any offences.
It is in these circumstances that bail should be granted, said the attorney.
However, police prosecutor Sgt Wayne Mohammed said the prosecution was objecting to bail as a criminal background trace of the accused needed to be obtained.
Additionally, Mohammed said the prosecution was also objecting given the number of charges brought against Johnson and the seriousness of the offences.
In response, Mohammed said his client had been in custody since last week Tuesday, which gave the police adequate time in order to have the tracing be made available.
Baboolal-Gafoor said the court still needed additional information on the accused and also to determine what conditions needed to be attached to Johnson’s bail bond.
Johnson was arrested last week by officers of the Port of Spain Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headed by ASP Ajith Persad following weeks of enquiries.
Also involved in the investigations were Sgt Charles, Cpl Carmichael and WPC Jules. The charges were laid yesterday morning by Jules.
Johnson will return to court tomorrow when his bail application is expected to be revisited.