A 59-year-old man from the village of La Sagesse in St. David’s, who was remanded to prison on 18 counts of sexual misconduct against a minor approximately three (3) weeks ago, was on Tuesday granted bail in the sum of $15,000.
The accused, Cyril Joseph, a security guard by profession, was denied bail and remanded to the Richmond Hill Prison, when he made his first appearance before Chief Magistrate Tamara Gill at the St George’s No. 1 Magistrate’s Court on June 5.
Joseph, who is facing seven (7) counts of sexual assault, 10 counts of indecent assault and one (1) count of sexual intercourse with a minor, was unrepresented during the initial court appearance.
However, the accused has since retained the services of criminal defense attorney and former Magistrate George Prime to assist him.
When the matter came up for second hearing before Chief Magistrate Gill on Tuesday, Attorney Prime was successful in securing bail for the accused child molester.
The media was not allowed inside the court for the proceedings due to the sensitive nature of the matter.
Attorney Prime has confirmed to THE NEW TODAY newspaper that bail was granted to his client with two (2) sureties.
As part of the bail conditions, Joseph was also ordered to have no contact with the complainant or witnesses in the case.
It is understood that the Police Prosecution team is proceeding indictably with its case against Joseph who is scheduled to make his next court appearance at the end of July.
This means that a preliminary inquiry would be held to determine whether or not there is enough evidence to send the matter up to the high court for adjudication before a judge and jury.
If convicted of the various offences, Joseph could be sentenced to a term of more than 30 years in prison.