by Linda Straker
- St Paul presently on EC$20,000 bail with one surety
- Previously served as an advisor in the Ministry of National Security
- Corporal # 450 Che Charles charged with indecent assault and rape
Following months of investigations after a complaint was officially filed with the police, Cletus St Paul was on Monday, 15 June 2020 charged with 4 sexually related offences. He is presently on bail.
He will be appearing in court on 23 July 2020 to begin the preliminary investigations into 2 counts of sexual assault and 2 counts of indecent assault.
St Paul who previously served as an advisor in the Ministry of National Security, is presently on EC$20,000 bail with one surety.
Police have also arrested one of their own co-workers with rape and indecent assault. Corporal # 450 Che Charles, 38 years, of Grand Anse, St George has been charged with 7 counts of Indecent Assault and one count of Rape. The officer who was arrested on Monday, 15 June 2020 has been suspended from active duty with half month’s pay. The offences are alleged to have occurred between 17 December 2018 and 4 January 2019.
In Grenada, the maximum penalty for sexual assault is 14 years imprisonment, while rape carries a maximum of 30 years imprisonment.
Grenada has some of the most dedicated and professional officers anywhere in the caribbean and by extension the world! No entity in the world is immune to ill practices. The Good thing about the Force the good outweighs the bad by leaps and bounds.
Whenever basic functions of law and order are compromised by disgusting and criminal practices within the police force, our country cannot legitimately prevent and punish violations of the law or protect human rights. The primary task of Police Officers should be countering and solving crime. When the policing system is compromised, it undermines it’s legitimacy.Weak accountability of police structures remains a significant problem in Grenada..Serious emphasis must be placed on professionalism, integrity and honesty, when establishing a service- oriented police culture in Grenada.
Police Officers who breaks the law and abuse their power must be held accountable for any and all abuses of power.
Aggravated sexual abuse by law enforcement officers who engage in nonconsensual sexual conduct with anyone , deprive that individual
of liberty without due process of law, which includes the right to bodily integrity.
Here here and bravo to the investigating officers , but the million dollar question is, how many more of this dreadful and degrading crimes are still to be dealt with in Grenada , and also is being committed by those in high places and who is task to uphold the law .