Pleas intensify for return of abducted girl
The older sister of the kidnapped 14-year old complainant in a carnal abuse case against a police officer from the Harbour View Police Station made an impassioned plea for the girl’s safe return. The plea was made during a press conference that was called by the Police high comman at the Serious & Organised Crime office in Kingston yesterday.
The child, Jhaneel Gouldbourne, was reportedly ordered into a van by one of three armed men who drove up to her gate on Friday evening. She has not been seen or heard from since.
The policeman in question has since been taken into custody and is facing charges of carnal abuse, indecent assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Notably, residents of Harbour View are alleging that the policeman was being shielded by fellow police from the Harbour View station. In response to this, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields, has appealed to his colleagues to end the practice of closing ranks and protecting their own.
“We find that some police decide to stand on the wrong side of the law with a colleague who has allegedly broken the law. It’s a problem that we have. We have to make some serious cultural changes to the police service because until we do that and all police officers decide which side we stand on, then we’re going to have a serious problem,” Shields told reporters.
The incident has also reportedly drawn the ire of the Police Commissioner – Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin – and Shields has promised that there will be a probe into how the incident was handled by the Harbour View police.
Tags : abducted girl, police abuse, police corruption, police rape
4 Responses to “Pleas intensify for return of abducted girl”
said on November 7th, 2008 at 6:38 am
[...] assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice with regard to a 14 year old who was also recently abducted and is now [...]
said on December 5th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
[...] they indicated that the main witness (the alleged victim – a 14 year old girl) could not be found (she was reportedly abducted) and so they intended to drop the carnal abuse charge. They argued that bail should still be denied [...]
said on February 14th, 2009 at 8:04 am
[...] the Elleston Road Police Station, and a woman of a St. Mary address, were both arrested yesterday in connection with the disappearance of 15 year old Jhaneel Gouldbourne who was allegedly kidnapped just outside her home in Harbour View in October of last year. The two [...]
said on February 16th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
[...] held for carnal abusing 15 year old Jhaneel Gouldbourne and who was suspected of having a hand in her disappearance last October, has been charged with murder. Deputy Commissioner in charge of Crime, Mark Shields, said the [...]
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