By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A MAN has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in Grand Bahama, a child he knew since she was a baby.

Prosecutors said 39-year-old Carlton Mott had sexual intercourse with the girl in a bushy area near Port Lucaya Marketplace on June 25, 2021.

That same day, Mott had taken the girl and her siblings to celebrate her drive-by graduation. 

The victim testified that she felt uncomfortable earlier in the day when Mott touched her inappropriately during a car ride alone.

The court heard that Mott had known the girl since she was ten months old. 

The victim said he began molesting her at age ten and continued until the 2021 incident. 

She only came forward in 2023, leading to charges against her mother for failing to report child abuse. 

That case continues in Magistrate’s Court with a hearing set for October.

He told officials he was distressed about no longer being able to provide for his ten children after his imprisonment.

A jury found Mott guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse by a vote of 8–1 before Justice Petra Hanna-Adderley. He was acquitted of a second count.

Despite the conviction, Mott maintained his innocence. Probation officer Laish Boyd Jr reported that he showed no remorse while incarcerated and resisted rehabilitation efforts.

The victim’s mother told the probation officer she felt she had failed her daughter. She revealed that she had also been abused as a child.