By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
THE mother of a man accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 2024 denied her son committed the acts yesterday.
Shantell Dean testified in the trial of her son, Tremiko Dean, 27, who is charged with two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse before Justice Jeannine Weech-Gomez.
Dean, a bus driver, is accused of having unlawful sexual intercourse with the 14-year-old twice between January 2, 2024, and March 10, 2024, in New Providence.
One of the alleged assaults reportedly took place at one of the defendant’s residences, while another allegedly occurred in a bus parked at a gas station.
A medical report said the complainant was admitted to hospital on March 11, 2024, and treated with antiretrovirals.
The complainant’s mother previously testified that her daughter remained in hospital for three months. She also claimed the child had a vaginal infection, to her knowledge.
Ms Dean said the complainant regularly visited her home in January 2024 and had started sleeping there occasionally by February. She said the girl was in her care during those visits and that she sometimes picked her up.
Ms Dean claimed the complainant stayed in her room during her visits and did not bother with the other children in the house.
She said the complainant was always in her sight during the visits.
Ms Dean denied the prosecution’s allegation that the complainant and her son were alone in a bedroom.
The prosecutor asked Ms Dean whether she got into an altercation with someone outside court on a previous day of testimony. Justice Weech-Gomez objected to the question and told the witness she did not have to answer it.
Ms Dean said that on the night of March 10, 2024, she was sick and was woken by the complainant sometime after 11pm. She said she did not know how the girl got there, but claimed the complainant told her she wanted to speak to her about another girl.
Ms Dean said she only found out another girl was also in the house after she went into the living room. She recalled calling the complainant’s mother to pick up both girls.
Ms Dean claimed the two girls slept in the bus that night. She said that if she had known that at the time, she would have allowed them to sleep in her living room until she could give them a ride in the morning.
The prosecution questioned whether Ms Dean truly cared for the girl, given her actions that night.
The prosecution suggested that the same way Ms Dean did not pay attention to the girl that night was the same way her son allegedly had sex with the minor in her home that January, an allegation Ms Dean strongly denied.
Ms Dean said she knew the girls got home that morning because Tremiko dropped them off.
The prosecution told Ms Dean that earlier that night, Tremiko and the complainant stopped at Esso Gas Station. Ms Dean said she could not say what happened on the bus because she was not there.
When asked by the jury why the teenage complainant visited her house every weekend, Ms Dean claimed the girl was having problems at home and that she tried to comfort and care for her.
Shaneka Carey and Betty Wilson are prosecuting the case.
Moses Bain represented Dean.
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