Man Convicted Of 2013 Rape

ST. THOMAS — Jurors seated for the rape trial of 42-year-old Irvin Ocasio convicted him of sexually assaulting a woman while she was sleeping, V.I. Department of Justice Public Media Officer Corliss Smithen announced Friday. The incident occurred a little more than four years ago.

Multiple requests for a picture of Mr. Ocasio from The Consortium to the V.I.P.D., which takes mugshots of suspects, have yielded no positive results, with the force’s media specialist, Sakeeda Freeman, telling The Consortium late Friday that she had yet to receive the picture from detectives.

Attorney General Claude Earl Walker, in commenting on the outcome of the trial, described the victim as “very brave” and vowed that his department will continue to seek justice for such victims.

“The victim was very brave in reporting the rape to VIPD, and confronting the rapist at trial,” Mr. Walker said. “We are fed up with women being sexually attacked in the Virgin Islands, and DOJ will spare no effort to bring these rapists to justice – no matter if the rapist is a family member or friend – because it is completely unacceptable and a serious crime to perform a sexual act on a woman who is not actively consenting, such as in this case.”

Mr. Ocasio, who was free on bail pending trial, was immediately remanded into custody after the jury rendered its verdict.

V.I. Superior Court Judge Denise Francois has set Aug. 1 as the date for his sentencing.

During the course of the four-day trial, jurors heard the testimonies of seven prosecution witnesses, including the victim, who was overcome with emotion as she recounted the events of the Mar. 7, 2013 crime. “I don’t have a life,” she said, when asked how the incident has affected her.

Mr. Ocasio also took the witness stand, denied any wrongdoing and told the jury that the sexual encounter was consensual.

“I’m asking that you do justice,” Assistant Attorney General Quincy McRae implored the jurors in his closing arguments. “In order to do justice in this matter, you have to rest that verdict on the truth. If you rest your verdict on an untruth that will be injustice.”

After almost three hours of deliberations Friday morning, jurors returned a unanimous verdict and found Mr. Ocasio guilty of both counts he faced – first-degree rape and first-degree unlawful sexual contact.

Assistant Attorney General John Tolud also argued the case for the prosecution.