Child rapist sentenced to 8.5 years imprisonment

(CMR) Neville Lloyd Passard was sentenced on Thursday afternoon to 8 years and 5 months for 11 counts of defilement and indecent assault against three separate underage victims. The youngest victim was around the age of four or five years old when he sexually penetrated her.

Justice Cheryll Richards read her judgment which included a brief synopsis of the case against Passard. The victims were all known to the defendant as he was in a position of trust and had easy access to them. On multiple occasions, he engaged in sexual penetration with them, fondled them, and forced them to perform oral sex on him.

When confronted by one of the victim's mothers, he denied the allegations and attempted to leave the jurisdiction before being arrested at the airport by Cayman police.

The victims provided victim impact reports which shared in part that they were traumatized by the abuse and suffered nightmares and continued trauma, including sleepless nights and nightmares. One explained that the abuse significantly impacted her as she trusted the defendant and now had emotional pain and anger. She was able to engage in in-depth trauma therapy.

Another victim shared that the details of the abuse were too painful for her to recall.

Passard has four daughters in Jamaica who provided supportive statements for his social inquiry report where they claimed that he was a good father that provided for them.

In mitigation, the court also considered his numerous health-related illnesses, including high blood pressure. While in prison, he contracted COVID-19 and had to be admitted to the critical care unit for treatment.

The kitchen manager at the prison provided a reference letter indicating that he was an exemplary employee and was a team player and had been the “most improved worker without supervision.”

The social inquiry report concluded that he was at medium risk for re-offending and low risk for sexual offenses. Despite that, the judge found that imposing a sentence of imprisonment was not avoidable.

Justice Richards also noted that aggravating factors included the location, his attempts to conceal the abuse and that some of the abuse took place in the presence of other victims.

Any time served and on house arrest, will be deducted from his sentence. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed for a period of 10 years.