The recruit who was sexually assaulted on Thursday night by a training instructor says his dream of being a police officer is now dead.
He spoke to Stabroek News yesterday and said he intends to secure justice.
The policeman, who is accused of sodomizing him last Thursday night, was reportedly moved from another police division for a similar matter.
The training instructor, a police source said yesterday, was moved from Police ‘B’ Division (Berbice) because he reportedly molested a young man there as well. “This man has a history of such conduct but because victims have been unwilling to come forward he has managed to get away with it,” the source stated.
A senior police official, the source further reported, will be meeting with the young recruit and his mother this morning. The training instructor, they further said, remains under close arrest.
Several efforts made since Thursday evening to contact relevant police officials for a comment on the matter have been futile. The police have not yet issued a statement on the matter. The attack came in the same week that the police were holding their officers conference.
Speaking for the first time since the attack, the 19-year-old recruit told Stabroek News yesterday that his dream of becoming a policeman is now dead. “Ever since I been in primary school I used to tell myself I want to be a policeman…now I am not going back to the police force. My dream of being a police officer is dead,” he said.
Sometime after 9 pm, he said, he was given guard duty and the training instructor assigned him to a certain location in the compound of the Felix Austin Training School, Eve Leary. The man said that when he arrived at the location it was dark and he was returning to inform his instructor about this.
“Before I could move away from the location,” he alleged, “this man come walking up to me and just attacked me. He lock me off in vice and then hit me…I lost consciousness for a while and when I came to the first thing I did was rush to my superiors to report what had happened.”
While he was informing the other senior police present in the compound, the recruit reported, his attacker attempted to walk through the front gate but turned around and started walking towards the rear of the compound. “There is a breach in the perimeter there where police can get out and I believe he was headed there but they managed to catch him,” the recruit said. “If he had made it out of the compound I believe he would have been on the run right now.”
The recruit further said that older policemen have since told him that his attacker has a history of such conduct. “They told me that the other victims were too afraid and ashamed to come forward so that is why he has been getting away with it…but I will not let him get away. I intend to take this to the courts and I intend to get justice,” the man stated.
Since the incident, the man further said, he has had to deal with much taunting. The psychological stress is taking a toll on him, he said, but he will not let it force him to give up.
He and his mother, he said, will be meeting with officials this morning to discuss how they will proceed with the matter.
Meanwhile, the man’s father told Stabroek News that police officials have been cooperating with them up to now. “They are supporting us and listening to us,” he said. “They are dealing with this transparently…I saw the man [the training instructor] in handcuffs and I believe that every effort is being made to see that this man is brought to justice.”
Following the molestation at the Police Headquarters the recruit was treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital and released.
