Attorney Hugh Wildman is calling for a formal investigation into the conduct of a police investigator and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in their handling of sexual offence charges against his client, Brian M*, who was acquitted of all charges on June 27 after a two-week trial.
Brian, 45, was arrested in November 2020 after a teenage girl reported him to the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA). He faced multiple charges, including rape, sexual intercourse with a minor, and grievous sexual assault.
A seven-member jury found him not guilty on all counts.
At a press conference held at his Corporate Area office, Wildman described the investigative process as deeply flawed and troubling.
“We are calling for some investigation into that and how the DPP handled that matter. They must give an account because God knows how many more people are being exposed like this in the system. How you can have a man coming to court for two years without any evidence and then you come back out with a statement to say what I said before is not true? Is that what our system is in Jamaica?” Wildman said.
Wildman revealed that the complainant later recanted her allegations, admitting she lied to prevent her mother from discovering her relationship with a neighbour. He said this was supported by text messages sent to Brian and conversations with her mother.
Despite this, Wildman alleged, the police refused to record the retraction or bring it before the court.
“We had to fight to establish his innocence and I’m saying this is alarming because the police have a duty, if somebody come to the station, having made a statement that is false and come to the station and say I made a false report, you have a duty to record it and place before the court, not to select not to record it, and this is what happened in this case,” Wildman charged, adding that this was misconduct on the part of the police.
“And God knows how many of this has taken place in the country … . They didn’t even interview [Brian] … .This can’t be right in Jamaica, that we have the police and the DPP office doing this,” Wildman said.
Brian, who spent more than two weeks in custody, said the experience has devastated his family and left a lasting stigma – even after his acquittal.
“It shattered my family. We were a good family. We were comfortable and to see this happen, it really devastated my life. People scorn yuh, people have more bad thoughts than good thoughts,” Brian said.
He went to church after he was acquitted and said even there, the stigma was still evident.
“Because of all of this my marriage is tearing apart, even though we have a house together, assets together, and all of that,” he said.
