Campbell sets lawyers on scandal author

Comrade Karen Cross, who wrote a scandalously damaging letter alleging paedophilia by a senior official of the People’s National Party (PNP), is refusing to say whether she has made a report to the police or will withdraw the comments.

That stance comes as lawyers representing Dr Dayton Campbell, the party’s general secretary, wrote to Cross on Wednesday, giving her until Friday to retract and apologise for the alleged defamatory statements, which have been circulating on social media.

“Our client denies all the allegations set out in the said letter and in particular any allegation that he has committed any criminal offence or is involved in any unethical or immoral conduct,” read a letter from the law firm Henlin Gibson Henlin insisting that Cross knew the claims were “false” but pursued them anyway “for the sole purpose of disparaging him”.

The firm said the claims in the March 16 letter are “damaging” to Campbell’s professional and business reputation” of the “well-respected” former member of parliament for St Ann North Western.

Cross, a former PNP Youth Organisation chairman not unfamiliar with controversy, has refused to speak to the developments, saying she was “thinking about” when to break her silence.

“I’m not talking about anything regarding that,” she told The Gleaner on Wednesday evening.

Questioned further, she replied: “I am quiet now. I have nothing to say.”

The PNP’s Disciplinary Committee, meanwhile, has said that the allegations “have not been substantiated” as no evidence has been provided and that the claims have been reported to the police.

John Junor, the committee’s chairman, confirmed on Wednesday that he had received a letter from a member with allegations of a “criminal nature”, which he said have been reported to the police.

“I have recommended to the accuser that the matter be reported by her to the authorities. No evidence has been provided in support thereof. I wish to make it clear that no investigation has been commenced or is under way within the party in relation to those allegations against the officer,” said Junor.

“Because of the nature of the allegations, the party does not propose to speak any further on this matter and will allow the law to take its course,” Junor added.

Dr Angela Brown Burke, a former PNP vice-president, said while the claims should be treated seriously, she was aware that the allegations stemmed from a troublemaker affiliated with the party.

It is also why she said Campbell should not be asked to step aside while the veracity of the allegations are verified.

“In recent times, we have seen a number of allegations that I am certain are totally made up. The allegations I’m talking about have nothing to do with any hint of sexual abuse, just other matters coming from a particular group of individuals,” she said, emphasising that the most recent public allegation should not be dismissed regardless of the source.

Brown Burke and Campbell were among the camp that supported Mark Golding’s successful bid last year for the presidency of the party.

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency and the Office of the Children’s Advocate have confirmed that they are aware of the allegations but said they could not start any investigations without a complaint.

“Checks were done at the Office of the Children’s Registry, CISOCA, and with our regional team. No report of this nature has been made,” Rochelle Dixon Gordon, publication relations and communications manager at the agency, said on Tuesday.

CISOCA is the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse operated by the police.

That entity’s head, Senior Superintendent Charmain Shand, has said that investigators are trying to find the letter’s author.