Mocha man found guilty of four counts of rape; victim says she wanted to kill herself

A 12-member jury on Thursday night found 48-year-old Jegede Hodge guilty of four counts of rape.

Hodge of Mocha, East Bank Demerara was on trial before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Georgetown High Court.

Hodge was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl between May 1 and May 31, September 1 and September 31, 2014; January 1 and January 31, 2015, when she was 14-years old and again between September 1 and September 31, 2017, when she was 16.

Hodge was represented by Attorney Ravindra Mohabir while the State was represented by prosecutors Teriq Mohammed, Tuanna Hardy and Nafeeza Baig.

Hodge was remanded to prison until his sentencing slated for December 12, 2019.

Following the verdict, Social Worker attached to Blossom Inc. Semone Gaskin read the victim’s impact statement to the court and detailed how the incident affected her.

“I wanted to kill myself,” the victim said as she recounted the first time Hodge raped. After the first incident, the young lady said she started to cut herself.

The second time Hodge raped her, the victim said that she told her friends but begged them not to tell anyone.

She said he continued to rape her every time he picked her up from school.

In her statement, the victim lamented that her mother continues to support Hodge and believes that he is innocent of the crime.

The teenager said she told her mother about the rape but she did not believe her and Hodge continued to rape her.

Hodge was arrested after the teenager told other relatives.