“Devoted Catholic” serving life for sodomising 8-Y-O girl files appeal

Appealing to the Guyana Court of Appeal to overturn his sentence and conviction is Mark Abrams, who had previously described himself as a devoted Catholic who would never hurt children. However, in July 2017, a 12-member jury unanimously found him guilty of raping and sodomising an eight-year-old girl.

He committed the offences sometime between January 1, 2013, and January 19, 2016. The court heard that Abrams began abusing the girl when she was just six. During the trial proceedings, the court had heard that he inserted his finger into the girl’s vagina, and also sodomised her.

Despite the decision by a jury of his own peers, Abrams maintained his innocence. In fact, he asserted, “I could not have, and would never have committed the offence. That I would maintain now, until forever.”

Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall, in sentencing the convict, had reprimanded him for his actions, while noting that he violated the child in the worst possible way. The High Court Judge also reminding him of his lamentation of being a devoted Catholic and had urged him to “pray to God for forgiveness.”

In the end, Abrams, who told the court he was a Catholic from birth and a music teacher at the church, was sentenced to life imprisonment. He is to serve a minimum of 35 years in prison before being paroled.