Nightmare Ends for Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez; He Sees All 7 Sex Charges Dropped

Marco Tulio Mendez

He was charged with six counts of aggravated assault of an indecent nature in February of 2015, a few months after deciding not to seek re-election in his Orange Walk East constituency. In August, a charge of carnal knowledge, as it was then known, was added. All the charges stemmed from acts of alleged inappropriate sexual touching and contact with two minor females. And for a time, it seemed that Doctor Marco Tulio Mendez, a prominent physician, had his name become mud in the tight Orange Walk community, not to mention politically, as even Prime Minister Dean Barrow called for his resignation. Fast forward to this last day of October, when it was announced in the Orange Walk Magistrate’s Court that the charges would not proceed, at the request of the family of the minors. News Five reached Doctor Mendez’s attorney, Richard “Dickie” Bradley, this evening and he details what happened and where Mendez proceeds from here.

On the Phone: Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney for Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez

“Early this afternoon in the Orange Walk Supreme Court, the judge read out to Doctor Mendez that the case is not going to proceed against him, and that he is free to go.”

Richard “Dickie” Bradley

Reporter

“Okay, how many charges had he faced?”

On the Phone: Richard “Dickie” Bradley

“He had faced – oh, I would have to look at the file – but he faced at least six charges in relation to the allegations against him, and all those charges have now been dropped against him.”

Reporter

“Was any reason given for the dismissal?”

On the Phone: Richard “Dickie” Bradley

“Well, I would have known from being the person representing him that this is a decision that the family has asked the prosecutors not to proceed.”

Reporter

“Is there any sort of civil settlement that he may face?”

On the Phone: Richard “Dickie” Bradley

“No, because remember it is something that it is in fact within the family; it’s not outsiders that are trying to persecute or prosecute him, so I think as a matter of policy, where a family is reluctant to proceed with a matter, they can signal to the prosecutors, who would then of course ask them to confirm in writing and then proceed, so that they could say it was not a decision they just made right so. Nobody is more relieved than he is; you know that, in fact, he was an elected representative of one of the political parties and a member of the National Assembly; this was in fact a very sensational matter that had made the news, so I know that he feels that finally, the matter is now behind him. And he can – I think he was thinking of calling a press conference; he wanted to take advantage of the fact that he could speak to all of those people who had supported him and had kept him strong going along, the terrible onslaught of what happens in a small society like ours where politics is mixed into anything.”

Reporter

“Ultimately the family made the decision to originally pursue this and have now decided to discontinue; would that leave them – I don’t know – but would that leave them to possible malicious prosecution…”

On the Phone: Richard “Dickie” Bradley

“No, no, that would not arise, because what is involved is that in fact, the prosecutors would have been acting based on some information. So it is not like a case where the police have little or no evidence, like in the case of the Sarkis – the invasion of the Lebanese Consul’s home, where some nineteen people were arrested, denied bail because of the gravity of the allegations against them, including one man who was charged for a rape which he did not do, and for which forensic evidence and D.N.A. testing  completely exonerated him.”

Reporter

“How does Mister Mendez, Doctor Mendez, pick up his reputation from here because it’s already mud, so to speak?”

On the Phone: Richard “Dickie” Bradley

“Yes, well it’s tarnished; as a member of the society, he will be able – I mean, now that the legal troubles are behind him, he can then set about finding ways to in fact get the message across, and I think your call must have come from some family member, somebody who would want to see that he can pick up the pieces and proceed.”