Taxi operator gets over 16 years for rape and abduction of teen passenger

St Catherine based taxi operator Christof Vernon, who was found guilty of abduction and rape, has been sentenced to 16 years and nine months' imprisonment.

Vernon was sentenced by Justice Bertram Morrison in the St Catherine Circuit Court on Friday.

Justice Morrison told the defence that the accused was tried and found guilty by a jury of his peers and, therefore, he earned no reduction in his sentence. 

The court heard evidence that, in 2017, Vernon picked up the then 15-year-old complainant in his taxi.

He later diverted from the route and raped the teenager.

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The matter was reported to the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse.

An investigation was launched, which led to Vernon's arrest and charge.

He made numerous court appearances until he was tried and found guilty of the offences last year October.

- Rasbert Turner