NASSAU- The father of a 14-year-old girl has slammed the $200 fine handed down to a man who caressed his daughter’s thigh.
Magistrate Ambrose Armbrister convicted Dennis Clarke on February 26 of the indecent assault of the C V Bethel student.
Clarke paid the fine, avoiding the default sentence of one month in prison. The offense attracts a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
The girl’s father learned the outcome of the matter on Bahamas Court News.
He said, “I don’t know what the judicial system putting in their minds mentally, but it seems to me you could go around, sexually harass females, physically harm them, and nothing comes out of it.”
Attorney General Carl Bethell has confirmed that the lenient sentence is “under review.”
According to the prosecution, on the morning of October 7, 2019, the man and his daughter boarded the bus near the Sugar Kid Bowe Bar on Soldier Road.
The father paid the fare for his daughter and left. Soon after, Clarke turned to the child, who was sitting behind him, and said, “You pretty, bey.”
That’s when Clarke put his hand under her skirt and rubbed towards her upper thigh.
She pushed his hand away and reported the matter to her grandmother, who works at her school. They reported the matter to the East Street South Police Station.
Police arrested Clarke when he showed up at the same station to press charges against the girl’s father, who had boarded his bus and hit him after hearing what he had done.
The girl testified that a few days before the incident, Clarke held her hand and rubbed it “in a sexual way.”
