Rapist receives 20-year jail term
Okeno Nicholas Solomon
(CNS): Okeno Nicholas Solomon (25) from Bodden Town has received a prison sentence of 20 years and six months for rape during a home invasion in September 2017 and committing sexual assault during a separate burglary in 2015. Solomon committed the rape while on bail awaiting sentencing for the sexual assault; as a result Justice Marlene Carter handed down two separate consecutive jail terms: seven years for the 2015 case plus 13½ years for the second offence, cutting it from 18 years for Solomon’s guilty plea. The judge also imposed a sexual harm prevention order for five years once Solomon is released from jail.
As she revealed her sentencing decision on Thursday, Justice Carter pointed to the escalation of Solomon’s offending. At the time of the sexual assault in December 2015 Solomon was serving a suspended sentence for a burglary committed in 2014.
But while on bail awaiting sentencing for that burglary and sexual assault, he committed the violent aggravated burglary and repeatedly raped a woman at knife-point at a home in Prospect, fleeing the scene in the victim’s car.
The judge said the crimes revealed a “rapid escalation of offending” over a three-year period, from burglary at a property when no one was home to the home invasion and rape in the middle of the night. She said it was clear that he presented a danger to the community, given where his offending had headed.
There were few, if any, mitigating circumstances for Solomon. The court heard that his first encounter with the criminal justice system was when he was a teenager. The local man was said to have had a relatively decent upbringing, though the judge noted he had suffered physical abuse at the hands of a parent. However, a sentencing report revealed no major psychiatric disorders.
For these repeat offenders all parts of there sexual genitalia should be removed / castrated
My question is why was he ever granted bail?
Finally we have some decent jail sentences for horrific crimes!
I can tell you what! 20 years for such a horrible crime is nothing! He should have been locked away for the rest of his sorry life. Chances are that when he is released back into our society he will do it again, and again, – Also alot of these criminals that are in Northward tend to “learn the tricks of the trade” from the others. So our Govt might want to look into solitary confinement for criminals whom are sentenced on the more serious charges such as this.
For a society based on the Christian ethos, some of the comments here are decidedly un – Christian. The crime he did was terrible and traumatic for the victims involved, no doubt about it and the sentence just. However we are fortunate to live in a society that does not go by the lynch mob mentality based on a rumor or a stereotype, or has a sliding scale of when it is acceptable for an elected Government to kill someone as punishment.
Every single person, myself included, who came into contact with this young man in whatever context: family; education; social services; the church; peers; work; etc, all have to look at themselves and see if more could have been done to prevent this downward spiral that he engaged upon. Yes, he needs to be ultimately responsible for his own terrible actions, however, I would also suggest that when you are brought up in a certain environment and see so many situations when your actions are not accounted for, how ultimately is he to understand and learn right from wrong and accountability.
The pseudo-Christian stench of the ideal of redemption reeks throughout this post despite the raft of science that criminality is hard wired.
Whoa, cowboy.
7:14 pm, you are right we are un-christian, for the Christian Bible says, eye for eye, hand for hand, foot for foot etc. But we don’t go by the Bible, so what are we ?
Another jeffrey barnes in the making.
Sick bastards
He’s almost as horrible a human as Dr. Harold Shipman.
So unfortunate when one’s society ruins you, isn’t it?
Revoke his caymanian status if he born outside of cayman islands
He is local as can be right here from the Islands.
Being born in Cayman does not mean he is Caymanian.
Sad
so if he murder he gets a lesser time? this dude doing the wrong stuff
When I see the sentence this rapist got as opposed to child molester’s and murderers, I really get a good laugh at the f@#%ed up sentencing guidelines in this country.
Want to explain that ? Not only do you sound like an apologist for rape receiving a significant sentence, your comment doesn’t actually stack up.
He didn’t get 20 years for rape. He got 7 years for burglary and sexual assault – got a problem with that – and 13 1.2 years for home invasion and rape on a completely different occasion 2 years later. Again, you think home invasion and rape doesn’t merit 13 years? Hell, this guy is clearly a very dangerous and repeat offender.
As for the comparison to murder and child molestation, the murder sentence here is usually life rather than 13 years that he got for the second offence, and whilst there are a number of people recently who have been convicted of child pornography or misuse of the telecomms system rather than direct physical abuse and got lower sentences as a result, Mr Webster got 6 years for indecent assault – not massively inconsistent with the 7 year sentence this guy got for sexual assault.
Your undermine the validity of your view that sentencing for all violent offences should be higher by making completely irrational or unsubstantiated comparisons.
Honestly – who on earth grants someone bail when they are convicted of burglary and sexual assault??? Someone needs to be fired over making such decisions, putting the life and health of all residents at risk……….Stupid is as stupid does……….
Or sue the judicial system for the lack of protecting the community from this evil person when the first incident occurred.
Soooo, a decent upbringing with physical abuse. Hmmm.
That sounds like an oxymoron to me.
Yup!! If I beat my child with a belt or a flip-flop, or a ruler or my hand, it’s abusive, my dearest….long gone are the days of using the “rod of correction to drive foolishness out of the heart of a child” and “train up a child in the way they should go, for they’ll never depart from it”, because it is the “village that raises a child”. We all do what we want, when we want, without consideration of who or how it will effect, because it didn’t harm no one else or we didn’t get caught doing it or it wasn’t illegal regardless of the moral aspect of it! Yet there were young, (some very little) eyes, ears and hearts that observed it and then absorbed it, then later on in adulthood put it into play, where they effected the innocents around them without any regard!!!!!
Why is it that this rape case gets 20 years and last year the guy who broke into the police station, robbed multiple homes and then raped someone in their house gets 9 year (which will be reduced to 3 for good behavior). Prior his conviction he was just released from prison. The legal system here is extremely unbalanced and all rape cases should be tried for life and extradited to another country to serve their term.
Life sentences suck for the criminal and the people of the Cayman Islands, who are stuck with paying the bill. A death penalty solves both problems.
I’ll apply for the position of executioner if govt legalizes it.
Are you sure about that?
Ppl when will we accept that we do have our home grown Caymanians as criminals too. I am a Caymanian born and bred (many generations back) so dont come for me with that races crap of degrading other nationalities. It is what it is!
Wow. I can always count on the lovely commentators on this site to display their anti Caymanian bias. Every society has rapists, murderers, child abusers. Look at the headlines in your home countries where horrific crimes happen daily. What we need to do in Cayman that we are not doing is recognise what is turning our boys into violent criminals. The clue can be found in classifying beatings and abuse as “relatively decent”.
As for you racists and bigots who hate all if us yet enjoy our country’s benefits – go home. Fix your own countries and people before you criticise us. Constructive criticism is one thing that we can use – and need. Vicious denigration is another thing entirely.
We can’t help it, you guys are so easy.
2.18am I could not agree more, but you seem to have forgotten that you have plenty of your own racist bigots who denigrate expats.
As you say constructive criticism is in short supply and it is most unfortunate that we now have two factions constantly sniping at eachother rather than addressing the problems we have in an objective way.
The local man was said to have had a relatively decent upbringing, though the judge noted he had suffered physical abuse at the hands of a parent. However, a sentencing report revealed no major psychiatric disorders.
“The local man” answers that question; my concern is his reoffending while on bail.
another fine product of john gray …..
Don’t blame the school. Blame the parent who messed him up.
Don’t blame anyone.
He alone makes his own decisions.
You take an abused child and a loved child, which one has learnt better behaviour for adulthood? Take away the balls and ovaries of crap parents.
blame the schools the parents and government. all are responsible
No, actually a product of society!
What’s that supposed to mean does John gray have anything to do with this person actions you sound very stupid saying that
I went to John Gray. I never once participated in a home invasion or a rape. Please indulge this audience on why you think a high school somehow is to blame.
Not yet.
You are an idiot. You are probably one who prevented this guy from settling down to make something worthwhile of himself. You were probably the knucklehead who picked on him every day. Try to stay quiet and be thought a fool, speak and you remove all doubt.
As you have just proved
only two questions here for our 3rd world justice system:
why was a guilty burgarlar given a suspended sentence?
why was a convicted burgalar given bail for sexual assault?
rape victim should sue the state for gross incompetence and neglegence.
in fact there should be a class action on behalf of all citizens sueing for gross incompetence of the civil service.
That’s all this scumbag got? He doesn’t even deserve to live. Wish I had my way with him
Deportation order?
where ..back to bodden town?
Has anyone actually checked to make sure he is in fact a Caymanian?
Doubt it. The moment someone is charged the Chief Immigration Officer should be asked to formally confirm, following the acknowledgement process, whether or not someone is Caymanian. Even if they are, the CIO should be asked to confirm whether their status is revocable in nature. This would allow the authorities to consider whether a deportation ought to be sought amongst the remedies available. It is so simple and expected by our law. Why is it not done?
8:40pm
No man
to the UK
he has a British Passport
LOL!
Deport him to where? Little Cayman or The Brac?
8.18 your comment is systematic of certain elements here who continue to blame crime on anyone but Caymanians. That is a head in the sand approach. Every place has its criminals, the difference being in larger allegedly more civilized countries they try to anaylse the source of the issue and put programs in place to resolve those issues. Northward has many Caymanians, so just get with the program, accept it and do something about it.
How about you 9:50am with your strong-headed answer to the Cayman societal problem?!?! I like your authorative, nonsensical reply….We need more ppl like you that can speak up, be the voice for the ppl and organize the resources and the doers to apply all we need to address our concerns, problems, shortcomings and “denial”. You really need to get out there and put yourself forward (if you aren’t already doing so) to see how you can make the change for a better society in Cayman. But, on the other hand we do need to hold everyone accountable for their actions; regardless of colour, class, status, race, religion, gender or political affiliations….everyday each of us is breaking either a law of the Land or at least one of the Commandments….these make up a good standing society full of love, peace, harmony, hope and compassion! We need to strive for this; first in ourselves, each day and then in others through our actions.
However, I agree that sentencing for sex crimes need to be harsher for everyone!
But then again, we don’t have adultery as a crime and I don’t see any one arrested for prostitution (which we all know happens at the local bars & clubs everyday).
How come they all seem to be from Bodden Town? Is it because BoddenTown is 90% Jamaican now?
Such a stupid comment the guy is caymanian you arrogant twit
The term “local” means he is a resident. That has nothing to do with his lineage, twit!
And we keep hearing from Ezzard and his pals that we Caymanians cannot get jobs because of furriners keeping us down blah blah. “Physical abuse at the hands of a parent”? Say wha? in Cayman? Any comment from all unna politicians saying Caymanians cant get ahead?
The word is foreigners
The word is driftwoods
Some animals just aren’t fit to be free in society. We need a 3 strikes and you’re out Law. In the meantime, good sentence!
Why on earth didn’t he get the maximum sentence? Who gives a s..t he pleaded guilty. He is a repeated offender and will do it again once he is out
Wired up wrong ?
This one case that I know of where the mother is to be held responsible. He was physically abused everyday. There’s no chance of him surviving.
I have known people who grew up being physically and sexually abused to the point that doctors assumed they would die but they turned their lives around and are successful people today. Abuse in any form is evil but each individual has to choose if they will allow their circumstances to define them, or if they will rise above the evil and be successful. Thus far this young man seems to have chosen the first option. For the sake of society and ultimately himself, let’s hope that he will take stock of things and choose to rise above his situation.
Sucks we don’t have the three strikes and you’re out policy.
Life is like a game of baseball..