Barry Robinson - he is the young man who raped former UDP Standard
Bearer Marissa Quan in 1998. He was found guilty and sentenced to ten years
for the crime but while you would expect this convicted rapist to be serving
time behind bars instead he has been allowed to be on the streets where he has
continued to get into trouble with the law.
He was paroled in 2008 and his name surfaced in January of 2009 when
police arrested him and charged him for burglary after he was accused of breaking
into the home of Kimana Davis on East Collett Canal and stole a number of household
items. We are not sure why his parole was not revoked at the time, but the court
at the time still went ahead and offered him bail which he met
But while on bail 31 year old Robinson was once again accused of a
crime and arrested and charged. Yesterday he appeared in Belize City Magistrate’s
Court this time for robbery. The victim, another female, Geraldine Grinage told
police that someone hit her in the head and grabbed her black purse when she
was walking on Eyre Street. He pled not guilty but being under accusation for
a second offence while on parole you might think that the parole would be revoked.
But instead court reports are that on Tuesday he was again offered
bail this time however it did not hold and Barry Robinson tonight is behind
bars at the Hattieville Prison. 7News understands that the Parole Board got 
involved and requested that bail not be offered because he has violated the
terms of his parole. We understand the prison’s parole board will be meeting
later this month to decide whether or not Barry Robinson’s parole will
be revoked.
But that is no consolation to his victim Marissa Quan who told 7News
today that not only she feels threatened every time her rapist his walking the
streets. In fact she objected to parole in the first place.
Marissa Quan, Outraged
“We are supposed to report crime and go the length of the justice
system to ensure that the people that do us wrong are punished and I did that.
I not only did that, I went a step further because most rape victims are kept
behind locked doors, their names are not released, they are not out there in
the public and I did all of that in the public so as to ensure that this wouldn’t
happen to nobody else, he couldn’t hurt nobody else. So sitting last night
and watching the television and then to hear, surprise that he was even out
and then the fact that he hurt another woman and then to hear that the Magistrate
gave him bail while you are out on parole. How can you be on parole Jackie,
how, and then get bail.
Everywhere in the world if you are on parole, if they catch you with a
stick of weed, back to the can. You are out of jail but you are still in jail.
It is like a managed thing to see if you can adjust back to society, that is
what parole is. It is not you’re free and able to do what you want. That
is not what it is or what it was supposed to be. And if Kolbe does not have
the facilities or the manpower or the money, the finance, to manage a parole
system properly, to ensure that we as citizens are safe, then they cannot have
that system.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
“Were you ever invited before the parole board to make your objections?”
Marissa Quan,
“Yes I was invited by Kolbe and I did so. I gave them written, I can
show you the leter that I wrote to Kolbe objecting to the parole under the grounds
I objected to because when he sat in front of me, I told him, I said you know
I am not comfortable with you getting parole because you were paid to do what
you did and I am afraid that if you come out you’re going to come back
and finish the job because if I paid you to do a job and you don’t do
the job that I paid you for, you done get paid. I want you to come out, you
are going to finish my job because I done pay you, that is just logic, I think.
So I said I am afraid that you are going to come back after me and he looked
at me and says, ‘I am not a child anymore so they can’t do that
to me anymore, they can’t control me like that. I am not going to hurt
you and plus I didn’t even do what they said I was supposed to do. I was
supposed to cut your throat, I didn’t cut your throat.’
If you commit a crime then you have to do the time. It is simple as that.
Once you are caught and convicted, it is the time you have to do.”
If the parole board decides to revoke Barry Robinson’s parole
then he will start to serve the remaining five years of his ten year prison
sentence for the rape conviction.
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