By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A WOMAN yesterday said she could not believe allegations that her fiancé molested her nine-year-old sister in 2024.
The 22-year-old woman, whose name is being withheld to protect the complainant’s identity, testified in the unlawful sexual intercourse trial of Chequal Martin before Justice Neil Braithwaite.
Prosecutors allege that Martin had unlawful sexual intercourse with the young girl in June 2024 and again in October that year.
The defendant’s fiancée said her sister lived with her and Martin in the summer of 2024.
She said she slept in the same bed as her sister.
On August 2, 2024, the witness said she went into labour and was taken to the hospital by her fiancé and his father. She said she was discharged the following day.
She claimed Martin and his father took her to and from the hospital.
The young woman said she began dating Martin when she was 16, going on 17.
Regarding their relationship, the woman said Martin did not have unlawful sexual intercourse with her.
She described her sister as happy and playful and said the children in the house played on a PS4 in the living room.
The young woman said she still speaks with the complainant by phone and that there is no animosity between them.
The witness said she learned of the allegations from her mother in October 2024, before her mother died.
She said she could not believe the allegations.
The prosecution suggested that Martin’s fiancée had been with him for eight years. She maintained that she met him when she was 16, going on 17 and that they got engaged when she was 20.
Although she admitted that she lied to Martin by telling him she was 17 when she was 16, the woman denied lying about anything in court.
She agreed with the prosecution that she was unable to have sex with Martin during the late stage of her high-risk pregnancy. She claimed the two were physically intimate during the earlier stages of her pregnancy.
The prosecution suggested that Martin slept in the bed between two children and next to the complainant. His fiancée denied this.
The defence claimed that Martin slept in his car and gave up the bed to others in the home.
The woman denied that Martin slept with the complainant or that she knew about it.
When it was put to her that Martin allegedly assaulted her sister while she was in hospital, the woman denied the allegation. She said that although she was not aware of exactly when Martin left the hospital, she was on the phone with him.
She also denied that Martin ever played games with the complainant.
The young woman told Justice Braithwaite that she never saw blood or other bodily fluids on the sheets or the complainant’s clothes. She said she washed both.
She said the complainant never came to her about the allegations and acted normally.
The defence closed its case after she finished her testimony.
The accused returns to court on Monday for closing arguments.
Dorsey McPhee represented the accused, while Kara Butler White, Cashena Thompson and Jacklyn Conyers were the prosecutors.
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