Coen Jackson, a former teacher of The Bishops’ High School, was on Tuesday found not guilty by a 12-member jury on one of four counts of sexual activity with a child under eighteen by abusing a position of trust.
After a more-than-two-hour deliberation, the 12-member jury could not reach a verdict on the remaining three charges. As such, a mistrial was declared and the former teacher is now expected to face a retrial at the next session of the Demerara Assizes.
Jackson remains on bail pending the new trial.
During the week-long trial, the High Court heard that the teacher and the complainant started to communicate privately in December 2010 via social media.
After some time communicating with each other, Coen Jackson reportedly invited the victim over to his house under the pretext of watching a “movie”. The court was further told that it was an inappropriate movie but the victim stayed and they both watched it. It was then, that sexual contact was initiated.
Further, between March and April of 2011, the teacher invited the student over to engage in sexual activity.
Jackson, according to statements provided in court, invited the victim to his home again on Mother’s Day in 2011, and it was then they engaged in sexual intercourse for the first time.
During this time, Jackson was her economics and business teacher.
The matter surfaced in 2017 after the former student entered into another relationship with a journalist who caused her to realise that she was being abused by her former teacher.
In an unsworn statement, Jackson stated that he did have a relationship with the complainant, however, this began while she was a student at the University of Guyana and he was pursuing his Master’s Degree.
After a police report was made against the teacher, he was subsequently charged in the Magistrates’ Courts. Particulars of the charges he faces state that, on four occasions in February, March, April, and May of 2011, Jackson engaged in sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 by abusing a position of trust.
The police instituted charges against Jackson in March 2018. Following a paper committal two months later, he was committed to stand trial for the offence after a city Magistrate ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against him.
During the High Court trial, Jackson was represented by Attorneys Savannah Barnwell, Jerome Khan and Nigel Hughes while the State was represented by Nafeeza Baig, in association with State Counsels Muntaz Ali and Latifah Elliot.
The matter was presided over by Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
