Taxi operator sentenced to more than 24 years for raping teenage passenger
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A 65-year-old taxi operator who was convicted of abducting and raping a 19-year-old student has been sentenced to more than 24 years in prison in the St Catherine Circuit Court.
Hubert Fletcher, of Central Village in St Catherine, was sentenced on Friday after being found guilty of rape, forcible abduction, indecent assault, and grievous sexual assault.
He received sentences of 24 years and nine months for rape, 14 years and nine months for forcible abduction, 12 years and nine months for indecent assault, and 24 years and nine months for grievous sexual assault.
The sentences are to run at the same time, meaning Fletcher will serve 24 years and nine months in prison.
The court also ruled that he must serve at least 10 years before becoming eligible for parole.
According to the prosecution, Fletcher was operating a Toyota Probox taxi on October 13, 2021, along the Portmore to Half-Way Tree route when the complainant boarded the vehicle.
The court heard that during the journey, Fletcher placed an object against the woman’s side and diverted to a section of Port Henderson Road, commonly referred to as 'Back Road'. in Portmore, where he sexually assaulted her.
Following investigations by the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse, Fletcher was arrested and charged.
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