Friday, 24 March 2023 11:25

Portmore serial rapist Chaddane Harris sentenced to 96 years

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Convicted serial rapist Chaddane Harris, who drove fear into female residents of Portmore, St Catherine, was on Tuesday sentenced to a combined 96 years in prison at hard labour by Justice Bertram Morrison in the St Catherine Circuit Court.

However, with the sentences set to run concurrently, Harris, a gym instructor who in March last year pleaded guilty to a 21-count indictment, will serve 31 years.

He was sentenced to 31 years for rape, 25 years for grievous sexual assault, 20 years for wounding with intent, 15 years for burglary, and five years for simple larceny.

Thursday marked the sixth occasion on which a sentencing hearing was scheduled for the man.

Harris was charged with six counts of rape, four counts of grievous sexual assault, nine counts of burglary and assault, one count of wounding with intent, and one count of simple larceny. Investigators said the crimes were committed in the Portmore municipality between 2014 and 2019.

Harris reportedly held up his victims at knifepoint, sexually assaulted them and robbed them of their personal items. One of his victims was stabbed repeatedly.

His victims included an amputee and a senior citizen. This prompted Justice Morrison to tell Harris that the most grievous of his crimes was his assault on the amputee, who suffered great trauma as a result.

Justice Morrison told the convicted rapist that the aggravating circumstances in the case outweighed the mitigating circumstances. And, he chastised him for the “ravaging horrors” that he unleashed on his victims.

“You invaded their privacy and savaged and ravaged them,” Morrison told Harris.

A repeat offender as described by Crown Counsel Judy-Ann Edwards, Harris was previously convicted for house breaking and larceny.