A Diamond Vale man who brutalised and repeatedly raped a woman and threatened to kill her and her father was, on Monday October 3, jailed for 20 years.
Aaron Hendrickson entered a formal guilty plea on September 27 before Justice Malcolm Holdip in the Second Criminal Court at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain.
Hendrickson, who was 19 at the time of the October 18,1999 incident, was sentenced to 30 years with hard labour for rape, five years hard labour each for serious indecency and attempted buggery, two years hard labour each for kidnapping and assault occasioning bodily harm and seven years for robbery with aggravation.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
Due to his guilty plea, Holdip waived the 30 year sentence, giving him a 1/3 discount off his sentence and also sparing him stroke from the birch. The judge also ordered that upon completion of the sentence, Hendrickson be made to register with the Sexual Offences Registry and be medically examined.
In passing sentence, Holdip noted that rape is a serious offence which is quite prevalent in society.
Stating that this was not Hendrickson’s first brush with the law for a sexual offence, Holdip further made reference to three matters currently before the courts where women were sexually abused and raped.
He also noted the age of the men charged with the offences.
Describing rape and sexual assault as “a grave and serious crime and an extreme form of violation,” Holdip said the “courts must impose the sentiments of the community”. He said the use of violence and force further leads to an abhorrent feeling in communities.
The High Court judge said arguments from individuals that a lesser sentence should be passed because of the age and immaturity of an offender should not be reason enough to alter a sentence.
Holdip said sentencing should instead reflect the severity of an offence and also serve to protect the public from offenders and also deter wouldbe offenders.
“Let it be known, this court is mindful of the public outcry over the past few weeks in dealing with the situation of multiple rapes,” Holdip said.
Adding that Hendrickson took responsibility and spared his victim the trauma of re-living the events by testifying in court, Holdip said the aggravating factors — the nature of the offence itself, the number of times the victim was raped (eight times), threats made while she was being raped, having a knife, scissors and claw hammer against her neck and head (while being raped) wiped out any form of mitigation.
He said although he did not have the victim’s statement, he has been “in court long enough” to know that rape and sexual offences of violent and grievous nature have an adverse effect on the victims.
During his plea in mitigation, Hendrickson’s attorney Richard Mason said his client was 19 when the rape occurred and though this was not an excuse, he hoped the court will take the guilty plea into consideration.
Mason said his client has been making “good use of the time spent in jail and is doing an electrical course”. The State was represented by deputy director of Public Prosecutions, Kathy-Ann Waterman-Latchoo.
It was the State’s case that the victim was at her Diamond Vale home with her fiancé when she heard a knock on the door. Upon opening the door, Hendrickson and another man asked for her father. She told them he was not at home and closed the door. Hendrickson and the man, armed with a knife and piece of wood, barged into the house. Hendrickson demanded that the victim remove her clothes. When she refused, he cut off her underwear and proceeded to rape her. The victim’s fiancé in an attempt to defend her was stuck on the head with the wood. The accomplice, who then proceeded to rape the victim, died before start of the trial.
Hendrickson and his accomplice, the court heard, ordered the victim to leave the house with them. When she refused, Hendrickson dragged her by the neck out of the house, up a hill and then to an abandoned house where she was further raped. Following more than three hours of assault, Hendrickson gave the victim a bottle of water telling her to wash herself off. The victim was able to make her way to a nearby house where the police were called and a report made.
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