High Court Judge Justice Riyaz Hamza has found a 65‑year‑old man guilty of raping his granddaughter on Gau Island.
The man has been convicted of three counts of rape and a count of indecent assault.
The three assessors had earlier returned with an unanimous guilty opinion.
The 17‑year‑old girl is his paternal granddaughter and was living with the accused and his wife on Gau Island because her father had passed away and her mother had remarried.
The incidents took place in 2013 when the girl was in Year 9 and was home from boarding school during school breaks.
Justice Hamza highlighted that the man confessed to a church pastor on 29th November 2015 that he raped his granddaughter as he was not having sex with his wife for six to eight months.
He stated that the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The man has been remanded in custody and the matter will be called at 12.15pm tomorrow for sentencing submissions.
