By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN accused of raping a 17-year-old American girl on Easter Monday in San Salvador is purportedly schizophrenic.

When 41-year-old Henry Gray pleaded not guilty to a rape charge during his formal arraignment before a Supreme Court judge yesterday, his lawyer Shivron Gay requested his client be removed from Her Majesty’s Prison where he is currently remanded.

“I’d like to make an application for him to be remanded to the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre due to his mental illness,” the lawyer said, adding that “my client suffers from schizophrenia.”

“I have a letter from a medical doctor at the Public Hospital Authority indicating the same,” he said to the judge.

Mr Gay said if his client were not in a facility where he could receive proper medication, he might not be considered fit to stand trial and would not only be a hazard to himself “but he would also be a danger to his fellow inmates at the prison.”

Senior Justice Jon Isaacs, however, said he was inclined to grant the request but “I will request that he be evaluated by the medical staff at the prison and that they ensure compliance with him taking the necessary medication for his illness while at the prison.”

The judge set February 27, 2017 as the trial date for the April 21 incident.

Gray of Cockburn Town, San Salvador is claimed to have had sexual intercourse with the teen without her consent.

The girl was riding her bicycle in the Cockburn Town dock area around 10am when a man emerged from the bushes, forcing her to perform oral sex on him despite her pleas not to rape her. The girl was flown to New Providence for medical evaluation shortly after the incident.

Gray’s remand at the prison continues until his status hearing before Senior Justice Isaacs on July 25.