Sex offender jailed for fourth time

Serial sex offender Ronnie Rodney Ebanks has been jailed for two years after he was caught performing an indecent act on himself while watching young children playing along the beach.

Ebanks, 53, of West Bay was formally charged with one count of publicly committing an indecent act and criminal trespass.

The charges stem from an incident on 19 Jan., when he was spotted staring at a group of children from behind fallen trees and shrubs on the boundary of two private properties along Seven Mile Beach.

Parents who confronted Ebanks noticed he was pleasuring himself. He was also fitted with an electronic ankle monitor. A report to police resulted in officers later locating Ebanks and confirming his location at the alleged time through the ankle monitor data.

At the time of the incident, Ebanks was on conditional release from Northward Prison, where he was serving a six-year prison sentence imposed in 2017 for indecent assault.

A known offender

Ebanks is a known sexual offender and was the first person in Cayman to have had a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed on him, following his 2017 conviction.

He was first imprisoned in February 2000 for rape and was sentenced to 14 years, which was reduced on appeal to 12 years. Released in 2009, he committed a burglary with intent to rape within a few weeks. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and was released in May 2016.

In February 2017, he was charged with attempted rape, burglary, indecent assault and theft. He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment after being found guilty on the indecent assault charge.

It is not clear when Ebanks was released from prison for the 2017 offence. However, at his sentencing, the court ordered that, upon release, the Sexual Harm Prevention Order was to be implemented and run for five years.

The initial SHPO

At the time of imposing the first order, Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop said the order was designed to protect women from Ebanks. Some of the conditions were:

That Ebanks may not attend any residential property or premises between 7pm and 6am without express invitation from the residents of the property or unless he had a lawful reason to be there. ‘Residential property or premises’ includes hotels, resorts, stratas, apartment buildings, dwelling houses or any premises where persons normally reside, whether permanently or temporarily.

Secondly, he is not permitted to loiter around any such property between 7pm and 6am.

He is also required to notify the police commissioner of his place of residence and associated phone numbers, in writing, within 48 hours of his release from prison and within 48 hours before making any change.

He must also inform the police commissioner, in writing, and at least three days in advance, of any departure from the Cayman Islands for a period of 14 days or more, with specific details as to locations and accommodation.

He is required to notify the police commissioner, in writing, of any changes to, or applications for, any identity documents; the notice must be in advance.

A new sentence

When sentencing Ebanks on 8 June, the court ordered that he serve the remainder of time left from his prior six-year sentence and that an additional two-year sentence run concurrent to that sentence – meaning he will be given credit for serving both sentences at the same time.

The Sexual Harm Prevention Order was amended to seven years and will begin upon Ebanks’ release from prison. It is not clear if there were any other amendments to the order. A request by the Cayman Compass to view the updated order was declined by the magistrate; no written reason was provided.

A not-guilty verdict was returned on the charge of criminal trespass, after the prosecution offered no evidence against Ebanks.