Man, 48, charged with raping girl under 14

RIO Claro labourer Clint Bittan, 48, appeared before a Sangre Grande magistrate charged with eight counts of sexual assault, including the rape of a girl.

Magistrate Cheron Raphael, who presides in the First Court, denied him bail on Thursday and transferred the case to the Rio Claro Magistrates’ Court, where he will appear on August 21.

WPC Alicia Guerra-Kerr charged Bittan with five counts of sexual penetration, two counts of grievous sexual assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a child under 14.

Bittan, of Tabaquite Road, Rio Claro, is alleged to have committed the offences between June 2011 and December 2017 in Rio Claro. He was not called upon to plead.