The pending December trial of a 54-year-old Bodden Town man accused of raping and indecently assaulting a 5-year-old more than a dozen times has been called off, with a new date set for sometime next year.
Appearing before the Grand Court on Friday 24 Nov., Assistant Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Scott Wainwright, told the court there were complications with gathering materials that the Crown wished to use during trial.
“We have made contact with the child’s school, seeking reports in regards to counselling as well as the results of medical examinations which suggest sexual activity in relation to the victim,” said Wainwright. “However, the reports we received are outside the time of the alleged offending.”
The court heard Noel Paul Manning’s attorney had also not received full disclosure, and would in any event not be able to proceed to trial either. As a result, the seven-day jury trial, initially slated for 4 Dec., was vacated, with a new date expected to be set in the coming weeks.
Manning is alleged to have first raped the child and indecently assaulted her when she was 5 years old, sometime between 1 June and 31 Aug. 2015. It is also alleged that he repeated the acts against the child between the same dates in 2016 and then again in 2018.
He denies the allegations and has been released on bail.
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