Will Charges Be Levied Against Jumoke Castro?

Pastor Louis Wade and his wife have since contacted the police department, expressing concerns over the social media comment made by Jumoke Castro. Knowing that the comment was made by a public officer, the Wades have been advised to make a formal complaint to the Public Services Commission since its regulations speak to the conduct of a public officer.  But Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says that the department is in communication with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine what charges, if any, can be levied in the absence of legislation on cybercrimes.

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I was sent a Facebook post yesterday which was made by an individual towards the wife of Pastor Wade and I must say that I am very much outraged by the content of that post. If it is that the individual had a personal issue with Mister Wade, then it should be between them, but to drag Mister Wade’s wife into the fray is very unfair. No woman should be subjected to reading something like that against her. And so I have discussed the matter with Mister Wade in terms of his complaint and his wife—because they have both made complaints—and have also discussed the matter with the D.P.P. and we are looking to see what, if anything, could be done by law to address the situation. I believe we need to make a stand and send a message to those persons who continuously use social media as the vehicle to attack or to threaten other individuals. We will see, hopefully by the end of today the D.P.P. will get back to me on that matter. But let me say for the time being though that Mister Wade has also been advised to make a complaint to the Public Services Commission because under the public service regulation it speaks to the issue of the conduct of public officers and the individual who made the comment is a public officer. And so I believe that there is something that the Public Services Commission can do to be able to bring some remedy to Mister Wade and his wife for the content of that post. We will see how that is going to work out. I think at the very least, the Public Services Commission should be able to do something if we cannot find something under the law because the law does make provision for threat to life and threat to damage property, but in terms of threat to raping a woman, that’s where the gray area is.”