Suspect in teacher’s disappearance got suspended sentence for assault conviction

The main suspect in the disappearance of primary school teacher Danielle Anglin was cut loose in 2018 with a suspended sentence after he was convicted in the High Court on multiple counts of assault, law enforcement sources have revealed.

The perceived slap-on-the-wrist sentence was imposed despite the fact that his antecedent report at the time indicated that he had a previous conviction in the eastern Caribbean country of Antigua for sex-related crimes, investigators fumed yesterday.

The police have not publicly released the man’s name, so details of his convictions could not be obtained by The Gleaner.

However, according to law enforcement sources, the suspected abductor was convicted on five counts of assault in the Criminal Division of the Jamaican High Court.

“He was given a three-year sentence suspended for two years although he had a previous conviction,” said one source.

A three-year sentence suspended for two years means he does not have to serve any prison time if he has no brush with the law for two years.

A member of Anglin’s family, contacted by The Gleaner last night, appeared shocked by the punishment, but declined to comment, saying she did not want to speak without the teacher’s mother present.

The convicted sex offender was held yesterday, the same day a body believed to be that Anglin was discovered in a densely vegetated area in Salt River, Clarendon.

AWAITING FORENSICS REPORT

Fitz Bailey, deputy commissioner of police in charge of crime, said on Monday that the police were awaiting a forensics report to officially identify the body found in Torrington district.

He said the area was the “last identifiable location that Anglin was in”.

On May 14, Anglin’s parents, with whom she lived, reported her missing to the St Catherine South police.

She was last seen on May 13, about 5:50 a.m., leaving home for the St Peter Claver Primary School where she taught.

In a video statement, Bailey had said that, given the weight of the evidence already collected, the suspect had given a statement to the police admitting his involvement.

“We believe that she was killed the same day when she disappeared. She was picked up by the suspect ...I can also say that with the help of JamaicaEye, we were able to identify a specific route which the motorcar that she was in travelled,” he added.

JamaicaEye is a national CCTV surveillance programme.

The suspect, who operated a rideshare service, was charged in Jamaica in 2015 for sexual offences and was convicted in Antigua and Barbuda for sex crimes and later deported to Jamaica, the senior policeman said.

Anglin was a grade four teacher at the St Peter Claver Primary.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com