Former Major's sex attack convictions appeal fails
Former Regiment Major and Bermuda Housing Corporation manager Glenn Brangman is behind bars today after the Chief Justice upheld a string of sex attack convictions against him.Brangman, 60, was remanded into custody after he failed at Supreme Court to clear his name of four charges of molesting a teenaged male BHC clerk.He now faces the prospect of up to five years in prison when he is sentenced at a later date by the Magistrate who first convicted him.The victim, Mr X, was a homeless and penniless 19-year-old who was living in BHC accommodation when Brangman sexually assaulted him on four occasions in 2009.Mr X said after the appeal was rejected: “It’s a great feeling to know justice is being served.”During Brangman’s trial, he detailed how the four attacks involved the older man touching his genitals against his will. He said two of the assaults occurred at his temporary housing at Southside and the others during the course of his BHC work with Brangman.Mr X said the attacks left him contemplating suicide.Brangman denied the allegations ever since he was first charged in January 2012. His lawyer, Shade Subair, accused the victim of concocting the allegations to extort money from the BHC.However, Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo said at the end of a lengthy trial that he found the victim, who he described as “a young and vulnerable young man,” was “an honest and credible witness”.Before Mr Tokunbo could sentence Brangman for the crimes which could result in a maximum five-year sentence — he filed the appeal which began in September and culminated yesterday in front of Chief Justice Ian Kawaley.During the appeal, Ms Subair questioned how Mr X’s evidence “could possibly be believable” and said Mr Tokunbo failed to adequately consider his motives for concocting it.She went on to say that although Brangman denied touching Mr X in a sexual way at all, the Crown failed to prove the touching described by the victim was done against his will.Reciting elements of the Mr X’s testimony, Ms Subair said he endured Brangman’s actions “without any complaint” until he told Brangman to stop — at which point he did.“How can the court infer there was a lack of consent?” she asked.She also pointed to Brangman’s previously unblemished character and history of public service in comparison to the fact that Mr X had been convicted of offences of dishonesty and was on probation at the time of the attacks.Prosecutor Nicole Smith argued that there was no consent, and the convictions were safe.In his ruling rejecting the appeal and upholding the convictions, Mr Justice Kawaley said there was no basis for overturning the Magistrate’s verdict.Brangman, of Hamilton Parish, showed no reaction as the Chief Justice dismissed his appeal and remanded him into custody, at Ms Smith’s request. She pointed out that custodial sentences are the norm in such cases.Mr X was not present for the appeal ruling, but said afterwards that he hopes Brangman is given the maximum sentence possible for the crimes, which have had a lasting effect on him.“I’m trying to move on and put it in the past but it’s difficult and I still go to counselling,” he explained.Ms Subair said it is Brangman’s intention to appeal his convictions further.The Royal Gazette revealed at the end of Brangman’s trial how he had been accused by 13 male soldiers of sexual misconduct before he was ordered to retire from the Regiment in 2002. Nothing was ever proven against him.