Justice Owen felt the man lied and greatly exaggerated during his police statement an attempt to avoid conviction. Though Justice Owen did notice inconsistencies in the girl's statements he credited this to the girl’s young age and embarrassment in recounting the details to the court. He otherwise found her to be thoughtful and truthful, not “brainwashed” as defense attorney Alex Davies submitted during defense arguments on Thursday (21 September.)
A key factor for Justice Owen was he found it to be an extraordinary coincidence that the girl and her mother would randomly choose to accuse Mr. Stewart of the assault and he just happened to have the same STD the girl contracted in the incident. Steward claimed he had been treated for the STD six days before the incident took place so he could not have passed it onto her. The judge did not believe his account.
The DPP called several witnesses including the child who testified via video link and her mother. The child is now 8 years old and broke down in tears while giving her testimony. The court also saw a previously recorded interview of the child shortly after the incident took place.
CMR understands that the man is a Jamaican national and works for the Cayman Islands Government in the Department of Agriculture; where he has worked for about 8 years. He has been on paid leave during the proceedings. Our sources also inform us that previously charged in a separate case involving another child of a similar age but was found not guilty in that case.
He is no on remand awaiting sentencing scheduled for November 20th.
Stewart is pictured above in a work photograph.
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