Advertisement 87
Advertisement 211
Teacher Jozette Bibby-Bowen is accused of using profanity on Facebook. (Internet photo)
Teacher Jozette Bibby-Bowen is accused of using profanity on Facebook. (Internet photo)
Advertisement 219

Secondary school teacher Jozette Bibby-Bowen is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday morning to answer two charges of obscene publication stemming from posts she allegedly made on the social networking website, Facebook.

The 37-year-old Belmont resident was arrested at Bishop’s College Kingstown, where she teaches Forms 2 to 5 the subjects of information technology, electronic document preparation and management and accounting.

She told I-Witness News Monday night that she is not guilty of the charges. “I am not guilty. I am not guilty of these charges,” she said after she was released, having secured station bail.

Her lawyer, Linton Lewis, an opposition senator, told I-Witness News separately Monday night that Bibby-Bowen was charged under Section 284 1(a) of Chapter 171 of the 2009 Revised Laws of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

She is charged that for the purpose of distribution or public exhibition, she did make obscene writing, to wit, “Ralph yo should shame to congratulate the new government of St. Kitts. They must tell you all yo mother**t.” (Asterisks added)

Advertisement 271

She was also charged under the same section that, for the purpose of distribution or public exhibition, she did make obscene writing, to wit, “Wunna does rash**e feel the facking country is wunna own. They must jail your mother**t now. Alyo does mek power get to alyo head, but even the longest rope have an end.” (Asterisks added)

“Now that is what it is alleged was said. They said it was said on Facebook … I don’t know how they are going to prove that she made these statements,” Lewis, a member of the main opposition New Democratic Party told I-Witness News.

The statements were allegedly made on Feb. 17, 2015.

Bibby-Bowen told I-Witness News that she believes the charges against her are “personal”.

She said she was arrested in the staff room at Bishop’s College.

She said she had her head on the desk at the time of arrest because she was not feeling well.

“All the students know, because they (police) didn’t hide to escort me, because I told them (police) I wanted my lawyer present,” she told I-Witness News.

“I told her (police officer) I am not leaving without a lawyer and she said she could be rough, she could be this,” Bibby-Bowen said of her conversation with the arresting officer.

She said five officers later visited her house and removed certain items.

She said she was not offered a phone call, but a friend who heard of the development contacted a lawyer on her behalf.

Bibby-Bowen also complained about the way she was reportedly treated by the police.

“I asked them when I was at the school to allow me to use the bathroom and I had to beg the guy to allow me to use the bathroom because I have a kidney problem. They weren’t allowing me to do anything. My son’s father came there. They seized his phone. They took his phone and had him there telling him he cannot leave,” she told I-Witness News.

Bibby said that a condition of her bail is that she appear in court at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning or she or her sister has to pay EC$1,500.

11 replies on “Teacher to appear in court for allegedly using profanity on Facebook ”

  1. This is fu#%ing jokes right? What a calamity in Vincyland. We locking up folks now for ole talk…lawd hav mercy!

    The most that should have happen in this instance, is the Ministry of Education calling in the teacher for some explanation;after all, she is a teacher and should conduct herself more appropriately online or otherwise…but to send police on her work, do we have the GESTAPO IN VINCYLAND NOW TO CLAMP DOWN ON THE “INTERNET CRAZIES?”

    RALPH HAUL YO […]..LOL

  2. F#ck this sh!t. That she is a teacher and a Government employee is irrelevant (although it was incredibly unnecessary to arrest her in front of her students). This is absurd and significant overreach of the government. The jurisdiction of the government does not extend to the internet. Fire her, sure… but arrest her? You should NOT arrest someone for what they post online, unless what they say is threatening physical harm to someone- which is certainly not the case.

  3. […] at least this girl has never been accused of rape.

    Arresting her at work is part of her punishment. The police could simply have asked her to come down to the police station. Or she could have been picked up after or before work. There was absolutely no need whatsoever to make a spectacle of her at her place of work.

    This is clearly the political police acting in a fashion as demanded by their political masters. It smells like the Vynnette Frederick arrest at the restaurant.

    It will be interesting to know what part the DPP and Minister of Arrest had to do with the procedure, of this particular arrest.

  4. When a student at Convent made a rudearse comment about a teacher…the whole education fraternity went ballistic and orchestrated a “Jihad” against a 14 year old, even when the courts instructed the school to allow the kid to go back to school until matters were resolved…

    …now here is a situation where a teacher was arrested on her job for talking cloth on facebook…IS THE EDUCATION FRATERNITY GOING TO ORCHESTRATE A JIHAD AGAINST THE LEGAL SYSTEM AS THEY DID WITH THE 14 YEAR OLD?

    Let me see how much backbone these teachers really have. NO TEACHER SHOULD BE IN A CLASSROOM TODAY IN VINCYLAND, THEY SHOULD BE ON THE STREETS OF KINGSTOWN.

    Hans King [commented on radio about thoughts of shooting someone] and to the best of of my knowledge, Hans King wasn’t arrested and charged…Hans King just recently, called Jerry George,“attention seeking, headline-grabbing a**hole”….on facebook; did the Police arrest Hans King?

    ARE THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS OF THE BISHOP’S COLLEGE KINGSTOWN GOING TO ORCHESTRATE A “JIHAD” ON BEHALF OF MS BIBBY-BOWENS?

    1. If the people in the Vincentian Society were okay with bullying and verbally abusing a 14-year-old student because she made a nasty comment about a teacher, then those same people should do the same against this teacher who [allegedly] made multiple disgusting statements against a public official.The teacher, who is more than twice the age of the student, should at this point know and understand how one should converse and express oneself in a public sphere, since the same measure was expected from the young student.

      Moreover, anyone who spoke out against the student should not be speaking in favour of the teacher now. This would be blatantly hypocritical. Aren’t adults the ones who should be teaching children, by word and example, how to express themselves in a dignified and socially acceptable way? Or is it a case where we now expect more from the children of this nation than we do from the adults?

      At last, I await the hypocrisy from the some of New Democratic Party cohorts as they make battle cries of victimisation and freedom of expression, although they turned a blind eye or took part in the mass bullying of a 14-year-old girl.

      1. TeacherFang says:

        @ansonja, you are missing the point of my post. You seem to be suggesting, that we treat a grown arse woman in the same manner we would a 14 year old…is that what you are saying? Let me be clear, I see no equivalence to what this 14 year old did and what this grown woman did on social media…this is not what I am driving at.

        I am saying that if the education fraternity were so outraged by court’s decision to halt the expulsion of this 14 year old; they should be similarly outrage not by the use of profanity by a grown arse woman on social media…but by the overzealous action of the police to arrest a member of their fraternity on her job for such seemingly frivolous transgression.

        Unless we live a puritanical society where there is a complete censorship on the use of profanities, you cannot be seriously telling me that we should be up in arms because a grown woman use profanity on social media.

        The only people that should have a real problem with this teacher, is the MOE…as a teacher, this was not a sensible thing to do, as it could affect her state of employment…but certainly this shouldn’t be an issue where one is arrested on your job for.

  5. Watching Hard says:

    The spirit of Stalin is now stalking St. Vincent. They want to send us off to the gulags or banish us for what we say. Is thought crime next? Since when did they give a rat’s ass about profanity? I hope Vincentians don’t sit down passively and take things like that. This affects all of us. They may not come for you today but your turn might come tomorrow.

  6. C. ben-David says:

    Every minute of every day, especially around the market and bus terminals, I hear much worse than this, including “I’m going to kill your c**t, which is an obscene death threat, all within the earshot of passing police who don’t even bat an eyelash. Talk about double standards.

Comments closed.