The radio talk show host who was taken into police custody Friday night as part of an investigation into at least two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with an underage girl has been released without charge.
The announcer was released Saturday night, after just over 24 hours in police custody.
He was taken into custody as police investigated a report by the mother of a 14-year-old female student that the announcer had had sex with the girl at least twice since 2013 — when she was just 11 years old.
The age of consent in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is 15.
The alleged crime reportedly took place at least once when the girl was 11 and once when she was 12 years old.
On Oct. 21, the mother of the girl, who lives in South Central Windward, reported to police that the radio personality had had sex with her daughter between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 2013.
She told police that the alleged act took place in Central Kingstown.
However, after interviewing the accused man, police released him man without charge.
Orders from above, we cannot have this because of comparisons, it doesn’t look good.
The new rules are no charges unless there was a man of the cloth, a lawyer, or a police officer present whilst such alleged crimes take place and therefore witnessed them. We no longer take the word of any woman or any mother who allege or charge a person with any sex crime.
An interesting paper by Stanford University on this matter can be read here
https://web.stanford.edu/group/maan/cgi-bin/?page_id=297
But at the end of the day you can bring a private criminal prosecution but you first need to get a Fiat from the DPP, But don’t worry if you already have a car because sometimes a cash alternative is available instead.
So Vincentian people the word from the top is “go forward and multiply”.
Kenton, you are quite correct in not naming those involved because no charges were laid vs. jurisdictions like the USA where reputations are permanently tarnished by overly zealous journalists eager for a salacious story hiding under the cover of freedom of the press.
Of course, your readers’ curiosity was aroused and we will always wonder whether: (1) there was not enough evidence to lay a charge, (2) a charge is still pending subject to further investigation, (3) someone paid someone else off to drop the accusations, or (4) this was a jilted girlfriend trying to get even with her former lover by falsely reporting him to the authorities.