June 10, 2002 – Local authorities and the FBI were searching Monday for a woman convicted on Friday in Territorial Court on St. Thomas of allowing her live-in boyfriend to rape her 8-year-old daughter repeatedly.
Maria Pellier, 31, walked away from the courtroom where a jury was deliberating her fate and that of her boyfriend, 43-year-old Sucre Henriquez Hernandez.
The jury found Pellier guilty of aiding and abetting child abuse and child neglect. The same jury found Henriquez guilty of 10 counts of aggravated rape.
According to Attorney General Iver Stridiron, the mother and her boyfriend, who both had been out free on bail pending trial, arrived in court Friday morning to hear the judge issue instructions to the jury before handing the case over to them. Pellier told her attorney, Derek Hodge, that she felt ill, and Hodge in turn told the judge. She then left the courtroom with Henriquez; he returned afterward alone.
Two and a half hours later, the jury came back with the convictions. When the defendants were called to stand and hear the decisions, Pellier was nowhere to be found.
The judge revoked bail for both defendants, and Henriquez was taken to jail," Stridiron said on a radio talk show Monday morning. As for Pellier, "she has disappeared; we don't know where she is." Nor does Hodge, who was left to tell the judge he didn't know where his client had gone.
As of Monday morning, Hodge said he had received no further word on Pellier's whereabouts. "She had not shown up, so I don't know where my client is," he said.
Pellier was described as "slight" woman with long brown hair, usually worn pinned up. Other than that, Stridiron said, she has no distinguishing characteristics. On the radio show, he appealed for information about her whereabouts from the public, and especially from the Hispanic community. Pellier, like Henriquez, is a native of the Dominican Republic, and authorities think she may try to flee the territory and return there. For that reason, the FBI was called in to assist in tracking her down.
The convictions were in a 3-year-old case. Henriquez was found guilty of raping the then 8-year old girl by invading her bedroom at night. According to court records, the child told her mother of the assaults on repeated occasions, but the mother paid no heed. Finally, the child reported the situation to her school teacher, who called the police, after which Henriquez and Pellier were arrested.
The child, who no longer lives in the territory, was brought back to St. Thomas last week to testify at the trial. Stridiron said she is now 11 years ago, lives with her father and stepmother, and is receiving counseling to help her recover from her ordeal.
Found guilty on 10 counts of rape of a minor, Henriquez faces the possibility of life behind bars, Stridiron said. Pellier faces 20 to 25 years in jail on the child abuse and neglect convictions. Stridiron said he intends to prosecute her on additional charges once she is found.
Anyone with information concerning Pellier's possible whereabouts is asked to call the police at 774-2211 or emergency 911, or the FBI at 777-3363.
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