Man Gets 18-Month Sentence for Groping Teenage Girl

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – A 61-year-old man has been jailed for 18 months after he pleaded guilty to groping a teenage girl.

The 15-year-old victim was watching the New Year’s Day Junkanoo Parade at Fredrick Street with her father when Ernest Thompson groped the girl.

Thompson was arrested for indecent assault after the girl’s father reported the incident to the Central Police Station.

Thompson pleaded guilty to indecent assault at his arraignment before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.

Thompson, who didn’t have a lawyer, asked to be placed on probation.

However, the magistrate noted that Thompson was ineligible for probation as he’d been convicted of rape before.

Thompson was also ordered to pay $2,500 in compensation to the victim’s father to defray the cost of counseling.