Dana Malcolm and Wilkie Arthur
Editorial staff
#TurksandCaicos, January 20, 2024 – Rape and sexual assault cases are being, slowed down and outright thrown out in the Turks and Caicos Islands because of extended trial periods and evidence issues in a concerning trend.
Between July and December 2023, Wilkie Arthur, Magnetic Media Court Correspondent, reported on several such cases.
On July 24, 2023, 26 year old Robins Luma walked free after the prosecution filed to throw out the case against him. He had been before the judge for a 2019 case of having sex with an underage girl. Senior Public Prosecutor Timika Grant told her Ladyship, The Hon Ms. Tanya Lobban Jackson that the child was now refusing to cooperate as a virtual complainant; citing that she no longer wanted to testify. Grant said since the trial was unable to start on previous dates, the victim was suffering from mental distress and trauma.
After the run-around that the child was subject to, MM learned that even if she had been willing to testify in July she may not have been able to. Because the court cases were poorly scheduled, the judge in her trial was hearing another case at the same time, making him unavailable.
On September 26, a rape case between two minors, where the accused had reportedly drugged the complainant was discontinued by the prosecution. Wilkie Arthur was in the room when the prosecution explained that. “the young
lady is having mental trauma and reluctance to testify given the times that she did attend court on other occasions and the matter did not proceed.”
On prior occasions, the case had been slowed because of disclosure/evidence sharing issues on the part of the prosecution.
Less than two months later on December 5, a father, accused of raping his child multiple times walked free under similar circumstances.
Arthur reports “Consistently, the daughter and her mother were present at court besides save for the last two occasions when the virtual complainant (VC) began showing that she had lost interest in pursuing the matter.”
Following that, on December 11th, 2023, the case of Jean Baptiste was stymied for reasons not made clear by the crown at the hearing. What was comprehensible in the Crown’s submission was that the complainant “wants to be left alone.”
DNA was reportedly collected in this matter, but not sent for testing.
The constant delays which have repeatedly proved to be too much for complainants is an issue that the DPPs Office, now led by Angela Brooks, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, says it has on its radar. But Brooks also blames the fear for preventing witnesses from testifying.
“My office prosecuted a sexual offense matter in November 2023, that occurred sometime between 2019 and 2020 involving a child who at the time of the offense was 13 years old. We cannot overlook what is happening around us and the climate of fear as regards witnesses,” Brooks said during the legal year opening on January 04, 2024.
She said the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) would be working to change this, maintaining that all was not lost.
“Our public prosecutors are now in a better position to collaborate with the court, the police, and other law enforcement agencies to implement a fast-tracked prosecution mechanism for cases involving children and other vulnerable persons, persons in custody, and persons affected by gender-based violence.”