Fate of Independence rape complaint in hands of D.P.P.

ACP Chester Williams

There are new developments in a case of alleged rape at the Independence Police Station back in November.  A pair of women is claiming that they were both sexually assaulted by officers on duty at the local precinct.  That report was made several weeks ago and the Professional Standards Branch has been investigating the allegation against the officers.  Since then, there has been correspondence between the investigating officer and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the latest being forwarded to her desk on Wednesday.  While Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams would not divulge those details, it is expected that the matter will take another turn in the days ahead.  A.C.P. Williams provided an update earlier today, stating that there are inconsistencies in the accounts given by the so-called victims.

ACP Chester Williams, O.C., Professional Standards Branch

“That matter in Independence, again I did that investigation personally because of the nature of the allegation and for me investigation is the systematic and logical gathering of information in respect of whether or not a crime has been committed.  And therefore, an investigator must always keep an open mind as to the motive of people in making complaints, whether against the police or not.  And so, in that investigation the two females concerned gave their account of what took place and after having given their account, I had the privilege of viewing the surveillance camera in the police station.  And having viewed the surveillance camera in the police station, I observed a number of inconsistencies in their account of what transpired.  Based on that I informed the commissioner that there will be a need to conduct further investigation to be able to ascertain if in fact the incident occurred.  The commissioner agreed and so the investigation continued.  The file was compiled and sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for her directives and she had returned the file to me with certain directives and that was complied with and the file went back to her yesterday.  We have new developments in the matter, but I am not going to share what those developments are but we have critical, new development where that matter is concerned and so we will now await what her directives will be, having received the new information we now have where that matter is concerned.”

The officers against whom the allegations have been made, remain on active duty pending the outcome of the investigation.