HOW COME?
Sexual assault of mentally challenged woman at drop-in centre sparks anger; mayor demands answers
PORT MARIA, St Mary — Days after a video surfaced of what appears to be a mentally challenged woman being sexually assaulted at a drop-in centre in the parish, St Mary Municipal Corporation’s Poor Relief Department has been unable to provide a report on the incident.
That department manages the facility, and Mayor of Port Maria Fitzroy Wilson is demanding answers.
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“Based on my information, it is not the first of such incidents; it is a regular occurrence at the same location, and [so] we should have had information on that from our surveillance cameras. It should not have taken someone from the streets to see that something was going on, to put their life and safety on the line to bring that to the forefront,” Wilson said during Thursday’s monthly council meeting.
“These persons are no less than a child, in that a child under 16 cannot give sexual consent… The matter must be dealt with in a serious way,” he added.
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He said he had expected the matter to be on the agenda.
“We would have expected a report would have been forwarded to [Inspector of Poor Lincoln] Brooks and the [corporation’s] CEO [Ethlyn Douglas]. We… might not be able to discuss those matters in its entirety at this committee, but we at least could be briefed as to what actually transpired,” the mayor said.
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The incident is said to have occurred after closing hours sometime last week. There are unconfirmed reports that the sexual act was carried out by an outsider.
When contacted on Friday, Acting Superintendent of Police Anthony Wallace, the commanding officer for St Mary, told the Jamaica Observer he was unaware of any report being made. This was in line with comments made during the council meeting. CEO Douglas said they were awaiting a report from relevant personnel.
It is unclear if a watchman was on duty at the time of the incident or if the surveillance cameras were working.
“If it happened at a time when a watchman should be on the compound and there was no watchman — or the surveillance camera not working — it’s a serious matter,” Wilson said Thursday.
Responding to the mayor’s demand for answers, Brooks said he was unable to provide answers because he had not received an incident report.
Though there is a register that watchmen sign, there also appeared to be some uncertainty about the identity of individuals who provide security after the centre is closed.
“The administrator does not know the security [officer] that works at night. When she’s leaving the premises he’s not there, and she hasn’t received a report from him,” Brooks explained.
The councillors present were visibly angry at this response.
“That can’t happen. If the person goes there, that person must be introduced to say this is the watchman,” the mayor insisted.
He argued that Brooks should make a greater effort to stay on top of occurrences at the centre.
“This is a serious matter. If the [local government] minister calls or the prime minister calls, I cannot just say what Mr Brooks said; I need to know what transpired. The CEO needs to know what transpired, Mr Brooks needs to know what transpired. Mr Brooks is in charge of all poor relief matters for the parish; anything to do with indoor, outdoor, or poor that exists, and that you don’t know you should go out and seek them out,” Wilson stated.
Brooks responded that the little information he had received was based on who was present at the time of the incident.
