The trial of a George Town man accused of raping a minor in the back seat of his car, on two separate occasions, began in the Grand Court on Tuesday, 12 Sept.
The defendant, Travis Arlington Ebanks, faces two counts of rape which allegedly took place sometime in October and November of last year.
Ebanks was 31 at the time of the alleged incidents and the complainant was 10 years old.
He has denied both charges.
During an initial police interview, the child told a detective that she came into contact with Ebanks when he added her on Snapchat – a social media app that allows users to post pictures, videos and commentary as well as send messages to and call other users.
“When he first added me he told me his name was Jeremy and that he was 14 years old, and that he liked my pictures because he thought I was very pretty and he wanted to be my friend,” said the child during the interview.
According to the child, she eventually found out that the person she was talking to was much older and that his real name was Travis. However, she told the court that after he began saying bad things about her best friend she blocked him.
“He kept saying that she was bad because she was hanging out with a lot of boys and that she was doing bad things,” said the complainant.
The court heard that Ebanks called her from a different profile several months later asking if “she was going to be mad at him forever”.
The first incident is said to have occurred sometime between 11pm and 12pm in a commercial parking lot a short distance from the child’s home.
“He told me to come outside because he wanted to talk to me, and that if I didn’t he would tell my friends and family all the things that I was doing,” she said. “Although I wasn’t doing anything, I still went because he also said he would tell them all the things I told him about them.”
According to the minor, after she got into his car, Ebanks eventually suggested that the two go into the back seat to “try something new”, where he is said to have raped her.
“I was pushing him off and telling him to stop because it hurt, but he wouldn’t stop, and then I started crying and he stopped and he started crying, and said he thought I wasn’t being serious when i was telling him to stop,” said the minor.
She added, “I started to feel bad for him because he was crying, even though I was crying first.”
The court heard that on a separate occasion, Ebanks, also in his car but in a different location, raped the child a second time.
The matter came to light in January of this year, at which time Ebanks was arrested and formally charged with two counts of rape.
The trial resumes tomorrow, and Ebanks was remanded into custody.
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