Rawlins v. People

OPINION OF THE COURT

(December 24, 2014)

CABRET, Associate Justice.

Wendell Rawlins appeals his convictions for first-degree aggravated rape and child abuse. For the reasons that follow, we reverse Rawlins’s convictions and remand for a new trial.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On February 22, 2011, Lilas Francis picked up her eight-year-old great-niece J.J. from Bethel Baptist Church on St. Thomas. Later that afternoon, J.J. told Francis that earlier that day her second-grade teacher, Rawlins, asked several students to bring J.J. to his desk, and after telling the other students to leave,…