A 65-year-old retired educator from St. Vincent and the Grenadines has received a total prison sentence of two years, seven months and 17 days after being convicted on four separate counts of indecent assault involving a 13-year-old minor boy. The sentencing ruling was issued by a sitting magistrate during a closed court hearing for defendant John Clyde Fitzpatrick, who resides in the Sion Hill area of the country.
Under local rules for cases involving child victims, legal proceedings for this type of sensitive matter are held in camera, meaning the public and press are barred from observing hearings to protect the safety and privacy of the underage victim. As a result, iWitness News, the local media outlet first reporting on the case, has only been able to confirm the official sentence handed down in the matter, with no additional details from the court proceedings available for public release.
Court and law enforcement records confirm the criminal offences Fitzpatrick was convicted of took place between September 2024 and January 2025, per an official February 2025 statement published by local police. In that statement, law enforcement noted that the sensitive nature of the case and mandatory legal protections for the minor victim’s identity mean no further specific details about the offences or the investigation can be shared with the public at this stage of the legal process.
Even with limited public disclosures, police confirmed that all required legal protocols have been strictly followed throughout the investigation and prosecution to guarantee that justice is delivered for the young victim. Fitzpatrick was charged and convicted under Section 127(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, CAP 171 of the 2009 Revised Edition of the Laws of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This statute explicitly outlines that any act of indecent assault against a child under the age of 15 carries a maximum penalty of 10 years of imprisonment. A supplementary clause in the legislation, Subsection 2, also reinforces a key legal protection for minors: under local law, a child under the age of 15 cannot legally provide consent that would excuse an indecent act or reclassify it as not amounting to assault.