A Diamond Vale labourer was yesterday sentenced to a total of 52 years in prison with hard labour after pleading guilty to raping a woman more than eight times in three hours.Aaron Hendrickson, 31, of Diamond Vale Industrial Estate, was sentenced to 30 years for rape, five years for indecent assault, five years for attempted buggery, two years for kidnapping, seven years for aggravated robbery, two years for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, all arising from an incident that occurred almost 12 years ago.Justice Malcolm Holdip, presiding in Port-of-Spain Third Assize Court, ordered that all the sentences be served concurrently and ordered that Hendrickson's 30-year sentence for rape be reduced by a third because of his early guilty plea.Hendrickson pleaded guilty before Holdip on September 27, this year, to all the offences.
It was alleged that on October 18, 1999, Hendrickson, who was 19 years old at the time, raped a woman from the Diamond Vale area, a minimum of eight times, attempted to bugger her three times and forced her to perform oral sex on him twice.It was also alleged that Hendrickson threatened the victim several times during the ordeal-with a knife, a piece of wood and with a hammer.The woman's boyfriend who was at home sleeping during the attack was also allegedly brutalised by Hendrickson.Holdip said it was the court's view that when a weapon, especially a knife was used in incidents of rape, that a high prison sentence was warranted.In passing the sentence, Holdip referred to several recent incidents of brutal rapes in T&T, including the recent rape of a mother and daughter in Central Trinidad.
Holdip said: "There is one common sentiment shared by the public in these recent rape matters-the fact that many of the men accused of rapes are so young."The sentence in this matter should reflect the community sentiments about these seriously violent crimes," he added.Holdip also ordered that Hendrickson's name be put on the National Sex Offenders Registry upon his release as provided by the Sexual Offences Act.The matter was prosecuted by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Kathy-Ann Waterman-Latchoo, while Hendrickson was represented by attorney Richard Mason.
