Damion Mitchell, Integration Editor

The RIU hotel has released a statement saying it followed a “rigorous security protocol” in hiring entertainment coordinator Demar Scott.

Scott is now arrested in connection with the rape of two women at gunpoint at the RIU Reggae Hotel in Montego Bay, St James on Thursday night.

He had been employed two days earlier and was still in training.

There has been intense scrutiny of RIU’s hiring protocol since a Gleaner report last night revealing that Scott was named by the Manchester Police as a person of interest from as far back as seven months ago.

In a Facebook post on March 2, the Manchester Police offered a reward of $35,000 for information on the whereabouts of Scott who was being sought in connection with several rapes in the parish.

READ: Background Blunder?

In the statement issued this morning, RIU did not address the revelation that Scott was listed as a person of interest.

But it maintained that its hiring protocol was followed and that the relevant documentation was requested.

It said the trainee presented a résumé with education and experience relevant to the position, a recommendation from a justice of the peace and a letter from an entertainment manager from another company.

It said a police record is usually requested before a work contract is formalised.

“This was an unprecedented event,” said Laura Malone, RIU’s senior manager, communication and public relations.

She said the hotel would not further comment in order to protect the privacy of its clients and to avoid interfering with the investigations being carried out by local authorities.

 

St Catherine JP under probe

The St Catherine Custos Reverend Jeffery McKenzie is to launch an investigation into the actions of Neville George, the justice of the peace who wrote a recommendation for Demar Scott to be employed to RIU hotel.

Scott, 24, of Exchange district in Ocho Rios, St Ann is the suspect in last week’s rape of two women at gunpoint at the Montego Bay resort.

Contacted this morning, McKenzie said he was just being made aware about the recommendation.

The Custos declined to address the specifics pending a discussion with George, with whom he has already scheduled a meeting in relation to another matter.

However, McKenzie said it is not permitted for a Justice of the Peace in one parish to be attesting to the character of someone in another parish.

“It is not permitted because you have to do the antecedent check,” McKenzie said.

In the meantime, George is defending his actions.

He told The Gleaner that he met Scott more than seven years ago “through the citizen’s association, etcetera”.

George declined to name the citizens association, saying he does not want to implicate anyone.

In the recommendation dated September 25, George wrote that he has known Scott for over two years.

“During this time, he has generally conducted himself in a manner that has led me to surmise that he is a reliable, responsible and hardworking individual,” George wrote.

This morning, George sought to explain why, as a St Catherine JP, he wrote the recommendation although Scott was living in St Ann.

“I knew him when he was a young man coming up,” George said.

However, he could not detail where Scott grew up, only saying, he was between “Ochi side and Spanish Town.”

George also said he did not know Scott’s parents.

And, he was emphatic that Scott did not pay to have the recommendation written.

"We don't do that," George said.

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