Man convicted for having sex with a minor wants it removed from record

A St Thomas man who was convicted for having sex with a minor, wants the crime to be erased from his record.

Delroy Chuck, Jamaica’s justice minister, said the man deserves to have the crime removed from his records, but laments that the law does not allow it. He said in Parliament on Tuesday that he intends to take a proposal to the Cabinet for an amendment to the law that would allow the expungement of the criminal records of persons “who are more deserving”.

Pointing to the case of the St Thomas man, Chuck said he pleaded guilty to carnal abuse and was sentenced to three years probation. He was 21 or 22 years old at the time of committing the offence, according to Chuck, and the girl was 15.

"At the end of the probationary period, he married the girl. They have two children now in their 20s. He would like his record expunged but because of carnal abuse, it can’t be expunged,” Chuck said.

"There is a pastor who I know, who was charged for murder but was convicted for manslaughter. He has applied to have his record expunged, but the Act does not allow it. He is a pastor. He has been preaching for the last 25 years," Chuck said.

"These are the sort of injustices that need to be removed," he added.