A St Ann woman who reported to the police that she was abducted and raped has been charged after confessing that the claim was false.

She has been charged with public mischief and is to appear in the St Ann Parish Court on April 1.

She made the claim in January, at a time when there were increased reports of rapes in the parish, especially in Ocho Rios.

In February, the woman changed her story, prompting the police to further investigate her case.

“She has since been charged with the offence of creating public mischief and she will be placed before the St Ann Parish Court to answer,” Superintendent Dwight Powell told the monthly meeting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation on Thursday. 

“I’m going to say to the public that whenever they make reports to the police, they must be certain of where their head space is, because when those reports are investigated and they’re not proven, then there are other recourses that are left to law enforcement,” Powell warned. 

Powell today told The Gleaner that since the spate of reports in January, stringent measures put in place by the police have led to a drastic reduction in cases of rape.   

“I’m not saying that we totally treated it because we believe that there might be other people out there but we have made a significant impact into what was happening,” Powell declared.  

Powell said that one main suspect remains in police custody in relation to the reports of rape made in January.

- Carl Gilchrist 

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