A man who said he honestly believed that a 14-year-old girl with whom he was having an intimate relationship was 18 years old was recently convicted of carnal abuse.

Christopher Hibbert, 38, landscaper of 4 Erald Avenue, Kingston 11, said in his defence that the girl told him that she was 18 and he believed her.

Lied about age

The complainant, who is now 15 years old, admitted in court that she told the accused that she was 18. She said she was from Portland but she ran away from home because she and her mother were not getting along and she was frustrated with her mother.

In her testimony in the Home Circuit Court, the girl told the seven-member jury that after she left Portland, she and her friend went to a nightclub in Kingston.

She said that although the club had an age restriction, she was admitted. After she left the club, she said she went to Waltham Park Road, Kingston 11, where she was introduced to Hibbert. They became intimate and she began living with him.

A report was made to the police that the girl was missing. The girl's photograph was subsequently published and that resulted in the girl being found.

Defence lawyer Lloyd McFarlane made a no-case submission at the end of the Crown's case. He asked the judge not to send the case to the jury because Hibbert honestly believed the girl was 18. He also referred to the fact that the girl was allowed to go into a club which had age restrictions.

Crown Counsel Sharon Milwood-Moore opposed the no-case submission. Supreme Court judge Paulette Williams ruled that there was no basis in law on which the submissions could be upheld.

Hibbert said in his defence that if he knew that the girl was 14 at the time when he met her, he would not have had a sexual relationship with her.

Majority verdict

The jury retired for more than two hours before returning a majority verdict of 6-1 that Hibbert was guilty of carnal abuse.

McFarlane, in making a mitigation plea for a non-custodial sentence, pointed out that Hibbert had no previous conviction. He asked the judge to give Hibbert the benefit of the doubt that he honestly believed the girl.

The judge described Hibbert's case as "a very unfortunate case" but pointed out that he had broken the law. She gave him a three-year suspended sentence. The judge warned Hibbert that if he were found guilty of any offence within the next three years, he would have to serve the three-year prison sentence.