COMMISSIONER of Police Clayton Fernander speaking to the press yesterday. Photo: Dante Carrer
By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
THE Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is meeting with police investigators to decide whether to bring charges against men accused of rape by two American women in a case that got international attention last month.
Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander revealed this to reporters yesterday.
Amber Shearer and Dongayla Dobson, passengers on a Carnival cruise ship, claimed they were on a beach at Pirates Cove when two men allegedly assaulted them.
Warren Adderley, one of the men allegedly involved in the assault, maintained his innocence in a Facebook Live video.
“I never thought it would end up to this,” he said.
The women alleged that officers “treated them like criminals” and refused to give them rape kits.
Police previously said in a statement that the women declined the assistance medical services offered them, signed a waiver and then left “for their cruise ship in a private vehicle.”
“Recognising the gravity of the incident, our officers boarded the cruise ship, providing a sexual assault kit and hospital form to the ship’s medical doctor and obtained signed statements from the victims,” the statement said.
Police said the force is collaborating closely with the FBI in the ongoing investigation and that Assistant Commissioner of Police Shanta Knowles is “personally ensuring that the investigation is conducted with the utmost level of professionalism and care.”
Comments
JackArawak 1 month ago
The RBPF is nothing but an embarrassment. And whatever happened to the cop who beat the 111 year old boy in Bimini? Oh yeah, they think we forget. Cronyism, corruption and clowns.
birdiestrachan 1 month ago
Then the old fool made a statement in the papers he said it all started in the bath room the ladies Or the men in a sense he put the nails in his own coffin why did the newspaper do that to him he may not be that bright if he was he would keep his mouth shut
rosiepi 1 month ago
So one of the two suspect who raped the women didn’t think “it would end up to this”??
He made a bad choice and was identified at the scene, what did he expect? And the other-who’s keeping his name out of the papers, the police on behalf of his politically connected family and because this isn’t his first time being charged with assault/rape?
And the police didn’t recognize the “gravity of the situation” until they were informed that their per usual lying and stonewalling of any attempts by foreign crime victims to swear out complaints was exactly why the US government had issued the crime warning. They were told to hop to it but the damage was done. Clowns!
John 1 month ago
I guess your accusation is greater than all the video camera evidence and wittiness accounts. It is people like you that confirm thiese accusations are not happen chance. Have you no no shame or common decency.
John 1 month ago
Those days if your Jim Crow laws are done. They are finished. The days when you can make false accusations of rape then not only Lynchburg tge accused, but burn and destroy entire communities. Hang your head in shame. But O you have none!
John 1 month ago
The commissioner of police knows full well that a rape case cannot proceed if there is no virtual complainant and/ or if they refuse to cooperate with prosecution and submit pertinent evidence. This is starting to look more and more like a conspiracy gone wrong to promote the narrative that The BaHAMAS is not a safe place for tourists ‘ unless you you stay on the cruise ship or only participate in cruise ship sanctioned activities. And if the commissioner had no evidence to dispute all the camera footage and other evidence of eyewitness that disputes the accusers stories, then maybe the commissioner and the Ministry of Tourism should start investigating the cruise line involved in the incident. Especially since it does stand to benefit from the fallout of such story even if it is patently false. And in light of the fact that tourists, who have no reason to lie, says cruise staff are still telling passengers not to leave the ship in the Bahamas or take cash if they do go off the ship. Apparently it now appears that not only do some of these cruise lines want their share of the cruise line industry but they want blood money. They are willing to destroy the credibility and reputation of the country and destroy lives to make another quick buck. Investigate them and if they found to be involved put financial sanctions on them. And if they continue in their devious and wicked ways ban them from The Bahamas, at least for a year or two. 2024 is the year of exposure, correction and redemption. The Bahamas must redeem its tourist and cruise industry from those who hijacking it.
rosiepi 3 weeks, 4 days ago
Oh please, get over yourself!! You’re blowing so much hot air your brain is starved for oxegyn!
The video evidence showed the two men leading the girls away, the main witness was a US nurse who discovered the women disheveled and incoherent on the floor of the bathroom didn’t know them but recognized their state and symptoms as being drugged and assaulted. This isn’t a race thing (again??), but a testament to the why the warning was issued in the first place, the RBPF are not interested in furthering complaints of rape, assault, whatever, from women especially tourists. The womens’ account rings exactly as the others gone before them, they were lied to about no help from the US Embassy, the offer of being tested with rape kits came with implications that made them believe they’re situation was no better in the hands of these officers.
In fact they and the nurse helping them were so disgusted with the attitude of the police they wouldn’t even allow them to drive them back to their ship!! Now that really says something!
And of course we now know that since the Bahamas has no facility for testing of such kits and there is an expense involved, the kits are never tested at any US facility either. So the rape of any woman does not merit a proper investigation by the RBPF, no wonder the crime of rape is so prevalent here!!
Dawes 1 month ago
And this is why Crime is so bad. How does it take so long to make any decision. They probably had to have a committee formed to decide if they need a committee to be formed to deal with this. But before they make the final decisions they need to have a big luncheon to celebrate how great everyone is. By now they should have interviewed everyone and got the evidence to be able to make a decision one way or the other
John 1 month ago
The fact is that the two accusers left the jurisdiction without submitting to a crucial test that would determine if rape ( or at least sexual assault) had taken place. This is NOT a situation where the accused are saying ‘yes there was sexual inter course but it was consensual. They are saying and maintaining that no sex acts occurred between them and the accusers. Simple rape tests for semen and dna would either confirm or dispel these claims. But the accusers refused to submit to such tests both here and on the cruise ship. And they come some week later and say some FIVE different types of Drugs were found in their system but NO ALCOHOL . This is after they, by their own free will posted videos saying what a wonderful time they were having in The Bahamad but they think they consumed too much alcohol. And after other visitors posted videos of the two accusers dancing and knocking knees on top the bar at a resort. So the wait also has its toll on the accused, especially if they are innocent, Snd it continues to affect this country’s tourism industry negatively. And if no rape occurred, then those responsible for making false reports should be made to account and pay penalties.
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