Three years for sex with teen

(CNS): A 31-year-old man from Cayman Brac was sentenced Tuesday to three years and seven months in jail, having been convicted earlier this month of the defilement of a teenage girl. Shankino William Ebanks admitted knowing that the girl was only 15 on the second occasion he had sex with her at Rebecca’s Cave when he was 29, and pleaded guilty just before he was due to stand trial in Cayman Brac.

Although Ebanks has no previous convictions for sex offending, was not in a position of trust on the occasions that he had sex with the girl and had not forced her to have sex, the judge raised his concerns that Ebanks had shown little remorse for his crimes. Justice Charles Quin said Ebanks had suggested that it was the teenager and her morals that were at fault, not him, during his pre-sentencing social enquiry report. The report indicated that Ebanks, who is a married man with his own children, objectified women and saw his sexual partners as merely objects for his sexual desire. He does not consider that what he has done was wrong as he blames the younger generation for wanting sex, the report found.

The judge said it was “deeply disturbing” that such crimes are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Cayman Islands and there are growing numbers of older men having sex with teenage girls. While Ebanks may not have been in a position of trust and appears to have been in a casual friendship with the teenager, Justice Quin considered the disparity in age as well as Ebanks’ attitude to his crime to be of some concern. Instead of taking responsibility, the judged said, the convicted man was blaming young girls for his actions

Although Ebanks had finally, very late in the day, admitted his guilt and had himself experienced sexual abuse as a child at the hands of an older woman, the judge said there were few mitigating circumstances in the case other than the use of a condom.

Justice Quin said that, as a father himself, Ebanks must have known that what he was doing was wrong and there was nothing proper or legal about it. Although on the first occasion the girl had told Ebanks she was 16, he still met the girl on a second occasion at the cave, where they had sex, after he had confronted her and found out her real age.

“There is disturbing evidence of increases in offences of this kind and the law is there to protect young girls,” the judge stated, adding that a signal must be sent that they will be punished with significant custodial sentences. He said that he found that a four-year term was appropriate but discounted the sentence by ten per cent for the very late guilty plea on the morning of trial, leaving Ebanks with a jail term of three years and seven months.

“I hope you use your time in prison usefully and when come out this will never happen again,” Justice Quin told the defendant as he sent him down. .