Bail for pensioner, 75, on sex charge

The 75-year-old Barrackpore pensioner charged with kidnapping and sexually touching a 12-year-old-girl has been granted $100,000 bail to cover both charges.

The accused, who lives at Pierre Trace, reappeared before Princes Town magistrate Wendy Dougdeen-Bally on Monday.

When he first appeared last week, the magistrate denied bail and enquired if he had an alternative address to stay pending the outcome of the case.

Police are contending that on February 29, the man allegedly grabbed the girl while she was playing in a yard. He took her to an area overgrown with bushes and sexually touched her.

WPC Hamilton of the Child Protection Unit laid the charges.

On Monday when the pensioner reappeared, attorney Dane Halls said the owner of the house where his client was expected to stay left the country to return in two weeks.

Other relatives do not want to house the accused because of the “wide publicity the case has attracted.” The attorney said relatives preferred not to be associated with it.

In his application for bail, Halls said his client has been married over 55 years and the family has been living at the same address. It was impractical for him to relocate given his age, Halls said.

Prosecutor Sgt Shazeed Mohammed objected to bail owing to the serious nature of the offences.

Dougdeen-Bally granted the $100,000 bail with magistrate registrar approval with a cash alternative of $50,000.

As a condition to the bail, the magistrate ordered that he has no contact directly, indirectly or through a third-party with the child. He must also report to the Barrackpore police station on Tuesdays and Thursday between 6 am and 8 pm. The magistrate adjourned the case to April 6.

The Princes Town Magistrates’ Court is housed in Rio Claro owing to infrastructural problems.