Suspected Child Rapist Jonie Adescat Roams Free in TCI; case botched

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, August 4, 2022 – Another failed conviction in the Turks and Caicos but this time an accused child rapist and molester walks free.

Magnetic Media has learned that the trial of Jonie Adescat was stayed on Friday July 22 after proper procedure was apparently not followed.

A trial is stayed when the court rules to stop or suspend it indefinitely.  In this case an interpreter/translator had to be used to collect statements from the Haitian accused and the complainant.

The same interpreter was used to collect at least two of the statements from the complainant and one from the accused, which is against protocol, resulting in contamination.

The issue of contamination happened twice during the lead-up to the trial with two different interpreters.  Both circumstances violated TCI law in regards to interpreters resulting in the accused walking free.

The case stems from an issue in 2018, Adescat was arrested for raping and indecently assaulting a young girl multiple times over a period of three months.

The outcome of the case ended up hinging not on whether he had actually committed the crime, but whether or not the evidence had been properly filed.  His counsel used the slip up to win the case and Adescat now roams free.

This case proves the consistent issue of evidence being mishandled in the Turks and Caicos is tipping into increasingly dangerous territory.

The failure to convict dangerous individuals costs the government money and puts residents at serious risk.  In the past year alone, there have been several high profile cases that ended in the favor of defendants – both criminal and civil – because of some botched handling somewhere along the chain of the Justice system.

In this case, a man where alleged evidence points to his readiness to defile and assault a child is released back into the community, raising concerns about safety for the most vulnerable.