By BARBARA GAYLE, Staff Reporter

Shouts of "the blood of Jesus" recently forced a 44-year-old man to flee from the house of a 13-year-old girl whom he attempted to rape after she had her bath.

But while the man fled then, he was obviously determined to carry out his attack and returned later, grabbed the girl while she was outside in the yard and pulled her into his house nearby where she was raped.

Last Wednesday, a seven-member jury convicted Courtney Samuels, plumber, of a Kingston address, of rape. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by Mr. Justice Bryan Sykes.

The Crown, represented by Vaughn Smith, Crown Counsel, led evidence in the Home Circuit Court that Samuels and the girl lived on the same premises. On the night of June 19, 2005, Samuels went into the girl's house shortly after she had her bath. The girl was in the process of putting lotion on her legs when Samuels attempted to rape her. She managed to fight him off and shouted, "The blood of Jesus on you," which caused Samuels to run

The girl's success was short-lived, however, because while she was outside in the yard later that night, Samuels dragged her into his house and raped her.

The accused gave an unsworn statement from the dock, denying committing the offence. He called three witnesses to support his alibi that he was not at home at the time of the incident.

After the jury convicted Samuels, he said he was sexually molested by a relative but his lawyer, Everton Bird, advised him not to make any further comment.