Mango Creek man sentenced to 1 year after pleading guilty to molesting 12-year-old boy; Apologizes to boy’s mom, says he contemplates about suicide in prison

By Breaking Belize News Staff: A 38-year-old man was sentenced to serve more than a year in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to the sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy. Shane Anthony Smith, originally from Mango Creek, appeared in Court #2 this afternoon to face sentencing for the incident, which occurred earlier this year.

The court heard that on May 13, 2026, Smith deceived the young boy and took advantage of him while he was sleeping in bed by fondling him. Smith initially entered a plea of not guilty when charged, but changed his plea to guilty on May 12, 2026, just as his trial was scheduled to begin. He was immediately remanded to the Belize Central Prison pending his final sentencing.

During the proceedings, the sitting Senior Magistrate established a starting point of three years for the sentence. In her deliberations, the Magistrate took into account a Victim Impact Statement prepared through the Human Services Department. She noted that while the child was spared from testifying due to the guilty plea, the assault has left the boy deeply traumatized, fearful, and suffering from anxiety.

The Magistrate classified the act as a Category 2 offense and heavily weighed Smith’s culpability. She emphasized that Smith committed a severe breach of trust against a child of tender years, noting that as a grown man over the age of 30, he should have known better. She also concluded that there was an element of planning involved in his actions.

However, several deductions were applied to reach the final prison term. The Magistrate first deducted six months from the three-year starting point because no physical violence was involved and this marked Smith’s first conviction for a sexual offense. This brought the timeframe down to two years and six months. Smith was then granted a standard one-third discount of eight months for his early guilty plea, bringing the sentence to one year and four months. Finally, the court deducted the 56 days Smith had already spent on remand since his May 12 plea, leaving a total of one year, two months, and seven days left to serve.

Before leaving the courtroom, an emotional Smith turned to apologize directly to the victim’s mother, who was present to see the outcome of her son’s case. Smith openly expressed remorse and asked for her forgiveness, stating that he had even experienced suicidal thoughts while spending time behind bars because of what he had done.

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