Soldier charged with rape of 3 boys denied bail again

A corporal in the TT Defence Force who was arrested in November 2019, for the alleged rape of three boys has again been denied bail.

Justices of Appeal Alice Yorke-Soo Hon, Prakash Moosai and Mark Mohammed on Tuesday denied bail to army sergeant Sterlyn Figaro.

Figaro was arrested in November 2019 by officers of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) in St James. He was charged with several counts of sexual penetration of three boys, ages12, 14 and 16, in 2017 and in 2019, false imprisonment and kidnapping, common assault and impersonating a police officer.

He was denied bail by a magistrate and again by a Master of the High Court.

Figaro appealed and his attorney Allan Anderson argued that there was no basis for the Master to deny him bail.

Anderson also said there was no evidence to support the finding that Figaro needed to be protected, or of a propensity to re-offend, based on the alleged charges.

“He is entitled to his bail,” he submitted.

In response, senior State attorney Nigel Pilgrim said the Master took into consideration the three separate alleged incidents, not only the need for self-protection, but also the seriousness and nature of the offences for which Figaro were charged.

He said there was strong evidence to suggest he was a likely flight risk. In denying Figaro bail again, Mohammed agreed the prosecution’s case was reasonably strong, and there was sufficient basis for the denial of bail.

Mohammed said he does have the ability to re-apply for bail if the matter before the magistrates’ court does not begin expeditiously.