A man convicted of groping a teenage girl on a public bus has been sentenced to 29 months in jail.
Palinda Maduranga Dissanayake, 36, a Sri Lankan national who had been working as a chef in Cayman, had been found guilty in January this year of indecently touching the 15-year-old girl who, like him, was a passenger on the bus.
Grand Court Judge Cheryll Richards, in passing sentence on Wednesday, 24 April, referred to the girl’s victim impact statement, in which she said she had suffered anxiety around people since the assault, and had not taken a bus since it occurred.
During his trial, in November last year, Dissanayake had faced three charges, involving three alleged victims. He was acquitted of indecently touching two women on a bus, in separate and unrelated occasions, but found guilty of indecently assaulting the teen on 14 July 2023, when he touched her leg and breast.
The charges come after police issued a public appeal last year for people to come forward after receiving complaints of a “series of incidents where women have reported being inappropriately touched by another passenger while travelling on a public transport bus”.
In sentencing submissions to the court, the prosecution had stated that the victim was “visibly a child” and had been alone on the bus when Dissanayake “cornered her until she could not move away”.
Richards noted that Dissanayake’s defence counsel, Keith Myers, had told the court in his sentencing submission that his client had no previous convictions in Cayman, where he had lived for seven years, nor in his home country of Sri Lanka, nor in the Maldives or Dubai where he had previously worked.
She said Dissanayake, who has been working on the prison farm since he was remanded in custody in January, has a wife and one child, who live overseas.
‘No remorse’
Richards said a social inquiry report stated that the defendant’s “failure to hold himself responsible and accountable for the offence could indicate that he has a minimal appreciation for the feelings of the victim”.
In the report, the social worker who had prepared it, stated that, based on interviews with Dissanayake, “his lack of accountability and lack of remorse or empathy suggest that there seems to be a lack of awareness as it relates to the offence”.
Using a starting point of four years, or 48 months, the judge deducted 19 months for mitigating factors his defence counsel had presented, and also took time off for time served since his conviction and for time during which he was on an electronic monitor and nighttime curfew.
Richards said the court felt the 29-month sentence was proportional to the gravity of the offence, as Dissanayake “had targeted a young and vulnerable victim, and foisted himself upon her”.
She added, “The victim’s evidence at trial was that he started on her lower leg and slowly went up to her thigh. His actions were repeated some three to five times, and the witness demonstrated this during her evidence.
“She said that it made her feel uncomfortable and she started crying. Her shock and feeling of being trapped was plain to see as she gave evidence.”
She also issued a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, that prevents Dissanayake from having contact with the victim or any other females under the age of 17, from travelling on public transportation, or from working in or visiting a place where minors are present, like schools and playgrounds, without police or court permission.
That order will be in place for five years after Dissanayake is released from prison.
“This court is satisfied that Sexual Harm Prevention Order is necessary for the protection of the victim and children,” she said.
She added, “The question of whether the defendant will be permitted to remain in the Cayman Islands is not one for this court. Should he remain or visit, then there must be protection from him.”
She warned Dissanayake that if he breaches the order, he can be arrested by police or summoned to court.
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