A CONVICTED rapist serving prison time apologised to one of his victims in the High Court on Monday.
In what might have been a first, the victim and her attacker spoke to each other and expressed their thoughts and feelings about what took place in 2007.
The exchange took place virtually before Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds, who accepted a plea deal between Kester Benjamin and the State which led to his pleading guilty to grievous sexual assault and the unlawful detention of the victim, who was then 17, on August 29, 2007, in Diego Martin, as she made her way home from classes.
Benjamin will be sentenced on April 25. He was represented by deputy chief public defender Raphael Morgan. The State was represented by senior prosecutor Danielle Thompson.
At Monday’s hearing, the judge had to be satisfied all the requirements set out under the Criminal Procedure (Plea Discussion and Plea Agreement) Act had been met before she allowed him to plead guilty.
This also included hearing from the victim, in a victim impact statement. Benjamin was also allowed to speak to her since she agreed and the judge gave her an opportunity to speak to him directly.
In her statement, the victim, now 32, said it was hard to describe the impact the incident had on her. At the time she was doing a business diploma but never completed it.
She spoke of the trauma she experiences whenever she reads reports of rape, including the abduction and murder of Ashanti Riley (murdered in 2020, aged 18) by someone who “viewed her as a sexual outlet” for their pleasure. She said she could not understand what made Benjamin feel he had the authority to force himself on her.
Travelling at night leaves her paranoid, she said.
Although in the statement she asked for no mercy to be shown to Benjamin, she later changed her position when she addressed him during the hearing.
“Mr Benjamin, I accept your apology. The part where I said don't have any mercy: I was in a different place when I wrote that, even though it was a little while ago.
"After seeing you, you are a human being. It would be hard to comprehend. It was not a good experience and is still not a good experience. I still feel all types of emotions,” she told him.
She said although her family was adamant that she should not participate in the hearing, she felt it important for her and other people. She said the last time she saw him in virtual court, she was upset and called her sister, telling her she felt sorry for the man.
“I said, 'I am feeling sorry for him sitting there.' She said, ‘You feeling sorry for him?’ I said. 'Yes, what is wrong with me?'”
She said she now understood his explanation after he did research in an attempt to figure out his actions.
“My family would say, 'He is just apologising to you because he just wants to come out (of prison), don’t believe that. He is very suave.'
"My response to them was that God would know what is in his heart, whether he is reformed and sorry. Mr Benjamin, I accept your apology.”
She told him she hoped he used his experi
