Cayman Islands number one activist, Sandra Catron, has placed a petition on the ipetitions website page asking everyone in the Cayman Islands (and elsewhere) to sign it. The petition is in response to Chief Magistrate Nova Hall’s sentencing to only six months jail term to a 44 year old father who admitted abusing his 8-year-old daughter. He also admitted to forcing his child to watch pornography while he molested her, over a two-year period. If that wasn’t enough he also made her watch videos of himself and his girlfriend having sex.

The man, who cannot be named because of a law prohibiting the media from naming sex offenders in case it identifies their victims, pleaded guilty to indecent assault, common assault, insulting the modesty of a woman and making obscene publications.

Magistrate Hall handed down custodial sentences for each of the charges on which he was convicted. However, she ordered them to run concurrently and suspended them for three months. This meant the man will serve only six months in behind bars.

The Chief Magistrate took into consideration the victim’s father was a victim himself as he was supposedly abused as a teenager. He also had pleaded guilty to all the charges and was undergoing psychotherapy and taking medication. The magistrate said this was to “address his situation”.

Catron was appalled at the sentence saying, “I cannot believe that a suspended sentence is appropriate in any of these cases. More and more of them are coming to light and finally it appears that we are having some successful prosecutions. The wrong message is sent when a child rape can be committed and then the person serves less time than if they were caught with some marijuana. We have mandatory sentences for unlawful gun possession and in my opinion this is a far more heinous crime that leaves many victims in its wake.”

She called on legislators to take immediate action to implement mandatory minimum sentences for sexual offences, and in particular those against children.

In launching her petition on Friday (16) Catron said she hoped to collect at least 5000 signatures

THE PETITION

We, the undersigned, are all appalled and disgusted at the 6 month sentence that was receive in criminal matter 04721/2012 for the abuse of an 8 year old child. We wish for the Department of Public Prosecution to appeal this decision of Chief Magistrate Nova Hall.

Also, we support the elected Members of the Legislative Assembly and the current Progressive’s government to implement minimum sentences for such offences.

You can sign M/s Catron’s petition at:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/appeal-setences-for-child-molestation/