A teacher who admitted sexually exploiting a young student was branded a “selfish demon” by the family of the girl he interfered with at a sentencing hearing yesterday.

Ronald Forde, 39, pleaded guilty to charges of luring while in a position of trust, sexual exploitation and accessing child pornography in connection with incidents this year.

The victim, who was under the age of 18, cannot be identified for legal reasons.

A victim impact statement from her sister, read to the Supreme Court, described Forde as a “selfish demon who portrays himself to be a man of God”.

“Truthfully, there are not enough words to describe how disgusted I am of your mere existence,” she wrote.

She said that the discovery of a series of sexual messages between him and the girl made her “sick to the core”.

“You tell these poor parents what they want to hear and slither your way into their hearts to make them trust you, then work your predatory magic on these innocent kids,” she wrote.

The court heard that the offences were uncovered by a brother of the victim, who in February had allowed her to use his phone to access the social-media app Instagram.

Cindy Clarke, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that on March 4 the brother changed the settings on the device and began to receive messages because the victim had not logged out of her Instagram account on the phone.

“He reviewed the conversation and observed its contents to be inappropriate as it contained sexually related text, a nude video of the victim, voice messages which could be heard as being an adult male voice and texts between the two referencing school,” she said.

Confronted about the conversation by her family, the victim said that the male participant was Forde, and the matter was reported to the school and the police.

In an interview with police, the victim said the inappropriate conversations with the defendant began in February and, on March 2, she had gone to Forde’s house where the pair had kissed in his bedroom.

Ms Clarke said that police discovered a pair of the girl’s underwear in Mr Forde’s home, suggesting that he had taken a “trophy”.

She also said that while Forde has no previous convictions, he was previously indicted for a “strikingly similar offence” in another jurisdiction, which was dismissed because of a problem with the committal process.

According to media reports, in 2011 Forde was charged with engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old student in his native Guyana.

However, the matter was discharged because of a court ruling that found that “paper committals” used in the case were unconstitutional.

Ms Clarke said that while luring was a new offence, added to the Criminal Code in 2020, the maximum sentence of 15 years showed how seriously it should be taken.

She argued that the case before the court was closer to the top of the spectrum as it had resulted in the child being sexually exploited by someone in a position of trust.

“I cannot think of any other luring circumstances that could be worse,” she said.

Ms Clarke added that a study showed one in three adults reported being victims of sexual abuse before they turned 18, highlighting the prevalence of the crime.

With Forde’s early guilty plea taken into account, Ms Clarke suggested a sentence of between ten and 12 years for sexual exploitation and luring, with a two-year sentence for accessing child pornography to run consecutively for a total of up to 14 years.

She also called for Forde to be added to the list of sexual offenders, and raised the possibility of an application for a deportation order.

Elizabeth Christopher, for Forde, argued that the offence was at the lower end of the spectrum compared with other cases involving younger victims, multiple victims and more serious sexual exploitation.

She said that while the sexual exploitation Forde was accused of had been kissing, the precedents cited by the Crown concerned far worse contact.

“The problem that emerges is that a sexual exploitation charge, absent of more serious contact, would typically be dealt with in Magistrates’ Court,” she said.

She argued for a sentence of four years for sexual exploitation, two years for luring and one for accessing child pornography, and called for all of the sentences to run concurrently.

While Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe remarked that four years marked a “precipitous drop” from the sentence put forward by the Crown, Ms Christopher said the facts of the case distinguished it from those that had received the kind of sentence suggested by the prosecution.

Forde apologised to the victim and her family, telling the court that he accepted full responsibility for the “gross act of betrayal”.

“An opportunity for a brighter future was given to me,” he said. “The Government of Bermuda didn’t make a mistake by allowing me to be here, nor did the institution that employed me.

“All of the mistakes that led to this day are my doing. I’m in full agreement that the punishment, the blame, the aggression, the anger, the frustration — all of it should be heaped on me and me alone.”

Mr Justice Wolffe remanded Forde in custody until January 6, when a sentencing decision is expected.

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