Him nuh deserve fi live - Women say rapist cabbie’s accumulated 100-year sentence too light

Shock and anger rippled through a group of women gathered along Beckford Street in downtown Kingston on Wednesday, one day after a St Catherine-based taxi driver was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for sexually abusing his daughter, stepdaughter, and a teenage neighbour.

However, the sentences -for charges including rape, incest, trafficking persons, and producing child pornography - are to run concurrently, meaning he will only serve 33 years and eight months before being eligible for parole. That struck many as deeply inadequate. Carolyn Watson, a vendor and mother of six sons, stood near her stall, arms folded, still visibly unsettled by the news, which she said made her think of her own children.

"That sentence too light. After what him do to those girls? Him rob dem of dem whole life. Him nuh deserve fi live at all," she said. Watson explained that in her household, she's always been firm on accountability, even if it means turning in her own children.

"Mi always tell mi boys, if any a dem ever try disrespect a woman or child, mi nah cover fi dem. Mi a call police myself."

"Too much a we as mothers turn a blind eye. We a part of di problem when we defend wrong," she added.

She said this case wasn't just about a single crime, but about a culture that teaches children not to speak, and adults not to listen.

"Some mothers nuh believe di pickney when dem talk. Some even blame dem. That's why things like this keep happening, because too many people look the other way," she told THE STAR.

Her customer Pinky recalled witnessing situations where young girls were dismissed, and labelled as liars or troublemakers, even when there were signs that something was wrong.

"Dem say, 'Him wouldn't do dat,' or 'She too lie,' but meanwhile, the child a suffer in silence," she said.

The case came to public attention after the mother of one victim found an explicit video on her daughter's phone. Investigations later revealed that the man had not only assaulted the girls himself, but had also taken them to another adult who allegedly abused them, while he either recorded the act or watched. The man pleaded guilty to charges related to his daughter and stepdaughter but denied accusations involving the third child, his neighbour.

For Ann-Marie Reid, who sells drinks and snacks from a pushcart, the details were almost too much to bear.

"Mi read di story and mi feel sick to mi stomach," she said. "A father? Watch man abuse him owna daughter and video it? That worse than animal."

Reid applauded the victims for speaking up, lauding them for their bravery. All three women agreed that real justice begins in parenting, in paying attention, and in choosing to protect children over preserving reputation.

"We haffi change how we listen to children. How we protect dem. And how we treat the people who hurt dem," said Watson.