Police on Monday had to forcibly restrain the father of a six-year-old girl who was reportedly raped on Friday, as her mother, apparently overwhelmed by the confrontation, fainted on the grass opposite a magistrate’s court where her alleged attacker was arraigned.
Andrew Bridgewater, 32, was charged with one count of unlawful sexual intercourse and one count of forcible detention.
Bridgewater was not required to enter a plea. Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez set the case for September 29 in the Supreme Court depending on the condition of the young girl. Bridgewater was remanded to Her Majestyﾒs Prison.
According to Mr. Gomez, the girlﾒs condition was serious, but stable at the Princess Margaret Hospital.
The girlﾒs mother told reporters that because of the incident her daughter was not the same.
“I am trying to give her the love and support that she needs because she still feels that itﾒs her fault,” the mother said. “Something needs to be put into effect for [men who do] things like this to little children.”
She also said that someone had called her to ask whether her daughter had died.
“I want people to speak life for my little girl because it could have been anybodyﾒs child that could have been affected,” she said.
Outside the courthouse on Monday, tempers flared as a crowd of family, friends and spectators gathered to get a glimpse of the suspect as police escorted him to the court.
But all calm was lost as the girlﾒs father lunged toward the courthouse door, followed by the angry crowd, with hopes of reaching the alleged rapist. Police, however, quickly restrained him and the crowd as Bridgewater quickly made his way up the stairs with police assistance.
When the arraignment was over, the girlﾒs father, with his shirt off this time, made a second attempt to reach Bridgewater, but was thwarted again by several police officers who struggled to restrain him.
An officer held the father in a headlock and then tackled him to the ground.
Bridgewater had to be carried through an alternate exit, which lead into a nearby alley onto East Street.
The girlﾒs father, meanwhile, was carried into the nearby holding cell until he had calmed down, and was released shortly thereafter, according to police officials.
Last Friday morning, security guards from K and L Security Firm alerted police to a little girl reportedly clothed only in a bloodstained, blue undershirt. They said they found her partially naked walking barefoot through bushes in the Blue Hill Road area.
Police said the six-year-old victim had been reported missing around 8:30 pm. on Thursday.
By: Perry Scavella, The Bahama Journal
