By Breaking Belize News Staff: A Belize City “dalla van” taxi driver who has been on bail since last year on a sexual assault charge was sent to prison on Friday after prosecutors withdrew that charge and replaced it with the considerably more serious offence of rape of a child.
Wenseslao Garrido-Veilz, 43, a Guatemalan national, appeared unrepresented before a Senior Magistrate in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court, where prosecutors informed the court that his previous charge of sexual assault was being withdrawn.
He was then read a single charge of rape of a child stemming from the same alleged incident involving a girl who was 15 years and 10 months old at the time.
The allegation is that on November 22, 2025, Garrido-Veilz had sexual intercourse with the minor without her consent.
Because of the nature of the new charge, the Magistrate explained that the lower court could not take a plea from Garrido-Veilz and could not grant him bail.
Garrido-Veilz repeatedly attempted to address the allegation, telling the court that he lives in Guatemala, has three children and has evidence in his defence.
“I have the evidence,” he told the court before being cautioned not to discuss the facts of the case at that stage of the proceedings.
An interpreter was eventually provided for Garrido-Veilz, who speaks Spanish, and he responded, “Bueno,” after the court explained the process to him.
He was denied bail and remanded to the Belize Central Prison until September 28, 2026.
Garrido-Veilz appeared visibly angry as he was escorted away to begin his remand. While being taken to prison, he was heard protesting in Kriol: “I nuh juck nobody.”
Breaking Belize News first reported on Garrido-Veilz’s case following his November 25, 2025 arraignment. At the time, police alleged that a 15-year-old girl boarded his grey dollar van near New 2 U on Cemetery Road and that, after the other passengers had exited, he drove her to a feeder road between Miles 2 and 3 on the George Price Highway and allegedly touched her inappropriately.
During that first court appearance, Garrido-Veilz pleaded not guilty to sexual assault. BBN reported that he was a Guatemalan national with Belizean residency and that prosecutors objected to bail on the grounds that he could be a flight risk. He told the court then that he had three Belizean sons and family ties in Belize. He was nevertheless granted bail with strict conditions, including that he not leave Belize, contact the minor or her family, or go within 200 yards of her.
That arraignment also produced a memorable courtroom moment when Garrido-Veilz, who had initially communicated through a Spanish interpreter, suddenly exclaimed in English after learning he would receive bail, denying that he had touched the girl.
BBN subsequently reported in August that the sexual assault case had been delayed while the court awaited CCTV footage from law enforcement.
The case took a dramatic turn on Friday, however, after prosecutors withdrew the sexual assault charge and substituted the charge of rape of a child.
The more serious allegation reportedly follows a further statement given by the minor concerning what she alleges occurred during the November 2025 incident.
Garrido-Veilz will now have to seek bail at the High Court if he wishes to be released while the case proceeds.
The post ‘I nuh juck nobody’: Dalla van driver angry as sex assault charge upgraded to rape of a child over 15-year-old’s allegations appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: A Belize City “dalla van” taxi driver who has been on bail since last year on a sexual assault charge was sent to prison on Friday after prosecutors withdrew that charge and replaced it with the considerably more serious offence of rape of a child. Wenseslao Garrido-Veilz, 43, a Guatemalan
The post ‘I nuh juck nobody’: Dalla van driver angry as sex assault charge upgraded to rape of a child over 15-year-old’s allegations appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
