BARBARA GAYLE, Staff Reporter

A 50-year-old woman who brought a case against her stepfather for sexually molesting her when she was a child, hugged her sister and they both wept openly in court on Thursday when he was convicted.

A seven-member jury found the 71-year-old man, who is now partially blind and deaf, guilty of indecent assault.

The jury found that the indecent assault took place when the woman was four years old.

He was also charged with four counts of carnal abuse which allegedly took place between age four to 15, but, the jury freed him of those charges.

Supreme Court Judge Jennifer Straw has put off sentencing to July 21. The man's bail was extended.

The main witnesses for the prosecution were the complainant and her sister, who testified that she witnessed some of the incidents.

The Crown, represented by assistant director of public prosecutions Maxine Jackson, led evidence at the trial in the St Mary Circuit Court.

The complainant, who had been living overseas for several years, returned to Jamaica in 2006 and made a report to the police in 2007.

The stepfather, who lives in Portland, was arrested and charged.

fair trial

The complainant said she had reported the incidents of sexual molestations to an adult relative, but nothing was done.

Following an application by Glen Cruickshank, QC, the case was transferred from the Portland Circuit Court to the St Mary Circuit Court because he said his client would not receive a fair trial in Portland.

Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn, QC, said the verdict which was handed down by the jury was a "positive" for the justice system.

She said despite the long delay in reporting the matter to the police, the case showed that "the justice system still works, despite the lapse of time".

Llewellyn said there was no time limit in law in which to report criminal matters. She commended the prosecutor for the professional and efficient manner in which she handled the case. Llewelyn said it was not an easy task to prosecute such a case given the lapse of time in reporting the case to the police.