This case cries out for the maximum! With those words a Supreme Court judge yesterday imposed almost the maximum prison term as he concluded a long castigation of a former police officer for 25 years.
By Coggie GibbonsJohn Malcolm ?Chalky? White, 38, of Zuill?s Park, Smith?s was convicted last month by unanimous jury verdicts of nine of the 10 sexual crimes he perpetrated against three young boys over a five-year period from 1996 to 2001.
The boys were aged between nine and 11-years-old at the time. Assistant Justice Carlisle Greaves said: ?There is no mitigation in the Social Inquiry Report,? he observed, ?no mitigation in the character evidence.? Mr. White was convicted of one serious sexual assault, three sexual assaults, one count each of buggery and attempted buggery, three counts of sexually exploiting young people while abusing a position of trust, and one assault causing bodily harm. The court struck out two other charges during the 15-day trial.
Only on the serious sexual assault did Mr. Justice Greaves stay his hand from the maximum of 30. On all the other counts he imposed the maximum of two, five, 10 or 20 years.
Eyes glaring, he made Mr. White stand for much of his rehearsal of the case evidence, victim impact statements and his own view of the defendant. ?I want to impose a sentence so long that you?ll have a long time to feel their pain,? Mr. Justice Greaves said of the deep trauma Mr. White inflicted on the boys. ?You pretended to have the wings of angels but you used the dagger of demons,? he thundered.
?This was the time of their lives when they should have been safe and been able to trust this man. They should have been happy but they felt your weight on their backs.? He continued, ?Seeds of distrust have been planted by this man. He was no ordinary man. He was a policeman who took an oath to protect and serve. You constitute a real danger past, present and future. You betrayed the trust of your colleagues. You have betrayed the entire nation.?
He read of the victims? stifled pain, personal fear, and confusion. Of the victim of the serious sexual assault, whose statement recounted deep anguish and pain, he said: ?He must know by this [sentence] that somebody believed in him.? Earlier in the hearing, Senior Crown Counsel Juan Wolffe argued for a sentence of 15 to 20 years, outlining the aggravating features of the case and saying: ?This case is unprecedented [in Bermuda] in terms of its scope and its filth. The tide of filth perpetrated by this defendant should attract a substantial sentence.? He called Mr. White?s actions the ?extreme end of reprehensible conduct?.
He pointed out his lack of remorse and referred to the victims? recurring recollections of what Mr. White did to them, of the emotional roller coaster described by one victim, and of the impact on the parents of anger, guilt and depression. Defence barrister John Perry QC accepted the inevitability of jail for his client. But, he said, ?This is not the worst case of its kind. This (serious sexual assault) is [merely] buggery with unintentional injury.?
On the lack of contrition, Mr. Perry argued: ?Does he choose remorse or hypocrisy? If he says ?now I am remorseful? he would only be attempting to sway you on sentence.?
?He is likely to serve his term almost in isolation. He won?t have the comradeship of other prisoners and there?s a risk of harm to him. Threats have been made against him already.?
Suggesting that a long sentence will bear heavily on Mr. White, Mr. Perry said: ?In humanity, this man ought not to get a sentence that breaks him.? At a later press conference, Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith expressed support for the victims and dissociated the Service from Mr. White, who was fired several weeks ago after his conviction.
?Those who violate a trust and those who violate an oath to serve and protect can expect the court to exercise its full power,? he said. ?These were the actions of a rogue officer and he?s now been held fully accountable.?
