Kenson Barley By. THE VIRGIN ISANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — The Dept. of Justice announced today that a St. Croix Superior Court jury found Kenson Barley, 45, of Estate Glynn, guilty of first-degree unlawful sexual contact stemming from his sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl in St. Croix. Barley faces up to 15 years imprisonment.
Virgin Islands Department of Justice prosecutors, Assistant Attorneys General Eric Chancellor and MacKeish Taylor, proved to the jury that on the morning of February 16, 2019, the 9-year-old girl accompanied her grandfather to a store in Christiansted. She waited in her grandfather’s vehicle while he went into the store. Barley, a family acquaintance, approached the girl sitting in the vehicle. The girl testified at trial that Barley offered to let her pet his dog, which he retrieved from his vehicle. While she petted the dog, Barley reached into the vehicle, groped her vagina and propositioned her for sex. The girl did not immediately tell anyone what happened but later that evening she told her mother, who then reported the sexual assault to the police.
“Children are the most valuable members of our community. In the Caribbean, we say that children should be seen and not heard. This makes them vulnerable,” Mr. Chancellor.
Attorney General Denise George said, “Sexual assault cases involving child victims are among the most sensitive cases and often the most difficult to prosecute. Yet it is extremely important that child sexual predators are prosecuted to the fullest extent and brought to justice. I commend the child’s mother for listening and seeking justice by reporting the sexual assault to the police, and the child for her bravery in coming forward and testifying in court”.
Barley will be required under V.I. law to register as a sex offender.
