‘Career suicide’

The female soldiers who accused a senior military officer of rape and other sex crimes have indicated to army brass that they do not intend to take their complaints to the police, a spokesman for the Jamaican army has revealed.

This disclosure by Lieutenant Nathan Curtis, acting media affairs officer for the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), comes days after an investigation conducted by the army found the senior officer in breach of two internal policies.

The name of the accused officer has not been publicly disclosed because “persons may have intentions of pursuing the case further”, the JDF explained.

“Naming those involved may prejudice that case,” the JDF’s acting media affairs officer, Lieutenant Nathan Curtis, said.

The probe found that the senior officer breached the army’s 2018 sexual harassment policy as well as the personal relations and fraternization policy, JDF announced last Thursday.

He was asked by the Defence Board to submit his resignation and will forfeit his pension and other benefits. His accusers have been advised of their right to make a report to the police, the JDF said.

This newspaper first reported in October that at least 16 female soldiers had stepped forward with allegations of rape, fondling and unwanted sexual advances by the senior military officer.

The investigation ended 52 days after it was first confirmed by the JDF without the involvement of the police.

Responding to questions submitted by The Sunday Gleaner, Curtis defended the army’s decision not to hand the case to the police.

“The JDF, as a third party, cannot make a complaint on behalf of a competent adult who has indicated that they themselves do not intend to file a report with the police,” he said on Friday.

Word that the women soldiers have opted to remain silent was no surprise for one retired military officer, who says placing the onus on the complainants to report a senior officer to the police is tantamount to “career suicide”.

“If any one of these women reports any of this to the police, they commit career suicide and they expose themselves to reprisals,” said the retired JDF officer, who asked not to be named.

“The force is very small and the identities of these women are known. The loyalty among the officer corps is very strong. So, if any of these women were to do that, it would come back to haunt them.”

Curtis said the complainants have been “assured that they will have the full support of the JDF” if they choose to go to the police.

Some of the alleged victims are in positions to “break the glass ceiling” in male-dominated areas of the Jamaican military, insiders disclosed, careful not to divulge too much information that could reveal their identities.

“No one has to intimidate these women or be silly enough to threaten them in writing or with a phone call. They (complainants) know the repercussions of their actions if they take it any further,” said the retired officer.

‘DISILLUSIONED AND DISAPPOINTED’

The perceived “slap-on-the-wrist punishment” reportedly left some feeling “disillusioned and disappointed”, insiders disclosed.

Pointing to the provisions in the two policies breached by the accused senior officer, one source, who also asked not to be named, said the top brass of the JDF had other options to take tougher action.

Paragraph 32 of the JDF sexual harassment policy stipulates that a complaint is considered “substantiated” when an inquiry or investigation “provides evidence to indicate that the complainant was sexually harassed”.

“The findings of the investigation must be supported by a greater weight of evidence than supports a contrary conclusion or, in other words, evidence that, after considering everything … , points to one particular conclusion as being more credible and probable than any other conclusion,” reads a section of the document seen by The Sunday Gleaner.

It noted, too, that the “weight of the evidence is not determined by the number of witnesses or volume of exhibits, but by considering all the evidence and evaluating such factors as the witnesses’ demeanour, information possessed, ability to recall and relate events, and other indications of veracity”.

Where a sexual harassment complaint is substantiated, commanders must decide whether to impose administrative or punitive corrective action.

“Violators may be charged and tried summarily or by ordinary court martial,” the document noted under the punitive actions available to commanders.

The administrative options include counselling, adverse performance evaluations, withholding of certain privileges, and “rehabilitative” transfers.

COURT MARTIAL RULED OUT

The JDF hinted, in response to The Sunday Gleaner, that it contemplated a court martial for the accused senior officer.

However, “all the cases reported occurred in excess of three years ago and are, therefore, time-barred from prosecution by a court martial”, Curtis reasoned.

But one insider challenged the JDF’s timeline, claiming that at least two of the incidents occurred last year.

Allowing the accused officer to resign without facing a court martial or trial, the source fumed, enables him to go on with his life like nothing happened.

Shortly after the sexual assault scandal broke, Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss Gorman, the Chief of Defence Staff, defended her leadership and handling of sexual harassment claims.

“Since assuming office in January 2022, I have been strident against any act of sexual harassment involving any service member within the JDF, regardless of their rank or gender… . I am serious about any breaches against the sexual harassment prevention or any other policy,” Wemyss Gorman said in a statement issued in late October.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com