By KEILE CAMPBELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kcampbell@tribunemedia.net
A MAN and his aunt have been charged with causing harm to the mother of his son and ordered to report to the East Street South Police Station as a condition of bail — the same station under police investigation over allegations that its officers refused to take the mother’s complaint against them.
Sujahri Robinson, 23, and Charlene Johnson, 52, both of Palm Estate, pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Abigail Farrington yesterday to a joint charge of causing harm to Lewratta Farisien in New Providence on October 1. Their trial is set for March 17, 2027.
Prosecutors allege that Robinson and Johnson, acting together, intentionally and unlawfully caused harm to Ms Farisien.
The prosecution did not object to bail. Each defendant was granted bail of $3,500 with one or two sureties. Both must sign in at East Street South Police Station on the last Sunday of every month before 7pm.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Audrey Deveaux prosecuted.
Ms Farisien’s allegations about how officers at East Street South handled her case prompted the Royal Bahamas Police Force to launch an investigation. She claims officers discouraged her from pressing charges and warned her that her boyfriend, a police officer, could be arrested and that she could lose custody of her two-year-old son.
She said she later filed her complaint at Carmichael Road Police Station. She has since reported the East Street South officers’ conduct to the RBPF’s Complaints and Corruption Branch. Robinson and Johnson were arrested on October 15.
Ms Farisien has also alleged that once the pair were charged, officers she believed were from East Street South visited her home and her salon and repeatedly called her phone in an effort to intimidate her.
The RBPF said its investigation would establish the facts and determine whether officers breached any policies or procedures.
Under the Protection Against Violence Act, 2023, an officer who receives a complaint from a victim of violence must take a written statement, signed by both the officer and the victim, and the complaint must then be investigated. The law also requires anyone dealing with a victim in a professional capacity to treat them with compassion and dignity, and it covers violence between people who share a child.
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