Update | Taxi operator charged for alleged rape and abduction of 10-y-o Clarendon girl

A Clarendon taxi operator has been charged with the abduction and rape of a 10-year-old girl in the parish.

He is 37-year-old Damion Beckford of Canaan Heights, Clarendon.

Beckford is to appear before the court on Thursday.

He was charged following investigations into the September 8 incident, in which the child was reportedly abducted while on her way to school.

The child was reportedly travelling to school when she exited a taxi near the entrance to the Mineral Heights Housing Scheme and was approached by a man who allegedly persuaded her to enter a vehicle.

Police said the man drove her to a neighbouring community, where she was allegedly sexually assaulted in a bushy area before being taken back to the vicinity of her school.

The child subsequently made her way to the school, where she alerted members of staff.

She was later admitted to hospital.

Superintendent Anton-Gur Cardoza, commanding officer of the Clarendon Police Division, had previously confirmed that a man was taken into custody as a person of interest as detectives intensified their investigation.

- Olivia Brown

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