By PAVEL BAILEY
Tribune Staff Reporter
pbailey@tribunemedia.net
A MAN broke down in tears on Friday after a jury unanimously acquitted him of raping and assaulting the mother of his child in Exuma, rejecting allegations that he ripped off her clothes and sexually assaulted her until she bled.
Khethino Cadet was found not guilty of rape and aggravated assault by a nine-member jury after more than a week of testimony.
Cadet choked back tears as he thanked Justice Jeannine Weech Gomez after she told him he was free to go.
Prosecutors alleged that on August 17, 2024, Cadet tried to have sex with the then 33-year-old complainant against her will, ripped off her clothes and forced his finger into her anus until she bled.
Cadet strongly denied the allegations. Testifying in his own defence, he said the pair argued that night after the complainant told him she intended to move away with their son.
Before the alleged incident, the pair had been co-parenting the child while living under the same roof, an arrangement the complainant had agreed to.
During closing arguments, prosecutors claimed Cadet invented the dispute over his son to explain away the rape and assault allegations.
The defence, meanwhile, attacked the police investigation as “hasty and sloppy” and urged jurors to reject the complainant’s account.
It stressed that no bloody sheets or clothing were recovered or submitted into evidence.
Prosecutors argued that Cadet had a 72-hour window in which he could have disposed of the items after the alleged assault.
Eucal Bonaby and Cassie Bethel appeared for the prosecution.
Keith Seymour represented Cadet.
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