A 27-year-old man accused of being involved with a 14-year-old girl, claimed he had no idea about her age until he was arrested.

Christopher Barnes appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday to answer to a charge of carnal abuse. However, his attorney, Vernon Daley, said his client did not know the child was young.

In his application for bail for the accused, Daley said when the two were found by the police, the complainant told the court that nothing was going on between them and that the she was 16. Daley argued that the complainant had not been straight forward with the police and her credibility will certainly be a concern in the whole matter.

The crown alleged that Barnes and the teenager have been in a relationship since October and they were found together by the police, recently. They alleged that on December 14, the child was sent to her godmother's house in Grants Pen, but that she failed to arrive and was not found since. The crown said she was found on the day the accused was arrested in his company.

discuss some problems

However, Daley argued that the accused never saw the complainant, even though she was missing until the day he was found with her. His explanation is that the complainant called him and told him that she wanted him to meet her in Stony Hill to discuss some problems she has been having at home with her mother. He allegedly went and they began talking and she went into his car and while they were there talking the police came and found her with the accused.

After listening to the allegations and the defence's explanation, Resident Magistrate Valerie Edwards granted the accused $500,000 bail with one or two sureties. The truck driver from a Lawrence Tavern address in St Andrew was also ordered to report every day to the Lawrence Tavern police between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. A stop order was also issued and he was also ordered to surrender his travel documents.

RM Edwards also stressed that the accused was not to make contact with the complainant and set a mention date of February 4.