A Georgia teen and her boyfriend have been sentenced to four months in prison in the Cayman Islands for violating the territory’s Covid 19 quarantine rules. The sentence, handed down on Tuesday, is expected to be appealed.
Skylar, 18, and her boyfriend Vanjae, 24, a Cayman Islands native, have been in custody since the ruling. Both had pleaded guilty. Their attorney told The Associated Press the two young people had never been in trouble before and that he plans to argue for a lighter sentence next week.
According to reports, Skylar arrived in the Caribbean on November 27 to support Vanjae, a professional jet ski racer. She was required to complete a two week quarantine and wear an electronic tracker, which the government uses to monitor arrivals. The next day, she reportedly called the public health department and asked for the tracker to be loosened. On November 29, Vanjae picked her up and the couple went to his race. A local journalist told U.S. outlets that they were not wearing masks or observing social distancing, and that Skylar was not wearing her bracelet.
After their arrest, a judge first ordered 40 hours of community service and a fine of about $4,400 each, plus a two month curfew for Vanjae. Prosecutors appealed, arguing the sentence was too lenient to deter others, and a higher court agreed on December 15. The Cayman Compass reported that Judge Roger Chapple described the conduct as born of “selfishness and arrogance,” noting that Skylar spent about seven hours in public without a mask or distancing. He also said the plan was deliberate, pointing to her request to swap her wristband for a looser one.
Skylar’s family told Channel 2 they believe officials are trying to make an example of her. Her grandmother told the station the sentence felt excessive for someone who tested negative, and asked why she had to be the example. Their attorney added that the family is worried about her being in prison alone in a foreign country, but acknowledged this is something she brought on herself.
The couple is the first to be sentenced under the amended law, which raised the maximum penalty from a $2,400 fine and up to six months in jail to a $12,000 fine and up to two years in jail. A Canadian couple found guilty under the original law was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine each. The Cayman Islands, home to nearly 62,000 people, had recorded just over 300 Covid 19 cases and two deaths at the time.
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