by Linda Straker
- Charged with 4 counts of indecent assault
- First court appearance on 8 February 2022 at St George’s Magistrate Court
- Presently on EC$10,000 bail with one surety
Following months of investigations into accusations of him committing sexual-related offences against a 19-year-old, police in Grenada have detained, arrested, and charged a 55-year-old male with 4 counts of indecent assault.
Police on Monday, 10 January 2022 confirmed that facing the charges is Claude Douglas, a well-known lecturer at tertiary institutions on the island. He was charged by police officers attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the South St George Police Station.
Douglas is facing 4 counts of indecent assault on a female student. The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1 January 2021 and April 2021. The investigation began in October 2021.
The lecturer is presently on EC$10,000 bail with one surety and is scheduled to make his first court appearance on 8 February 2022 at the St George’s Magistrate Court.
In 2012 Grenada amended its criminal code to increase the penalty for various offences. One of those was a new summary offence of Indecent Assault. According to the Criminal Code “indecent assault” means an assault committed in circumstances of indecency.
A person who indecently assaults another person commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years. Summary offences are usually dealt with at the magistrate court level. However, when charged as an indictable offence (meaning the matter goes to the High Court) the term of imprisonment should not be exceeding 10 years.