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The allegations against Dr Dayton Campbell which are now widely discussed in the media are quite serious and should be treated as such. Not only are the allegations serious and require special attention, there are aspects of these allegations that raise other questions that should be addressed.
The first issue that I think should be addressed is the role of the justice of the peace to whose attention the allegations have been brought. A justice of the peace, whose powers are governed by the Law on the competence of justices of the peace, has a certain responsibility imposed on him by article 40 of the said law, when it is brought to his knowledge that a crime has occurred. been committed. If the matter brought to his attention is an allegation of a crime committed in a parish other than the parish in which he has jurisdiction, then he has a duty to issue a warrant for the suspect to be brought before a justice of the peace of the parish in which the offense was committed.
It should be noted that the information shared so far by Karen Cross is that the justice of the peace, who witnessed the signature of the complainant is a justice of the peace from the parish of St Andrew. This justice of the peace should have brought it to the attention of the police and authorities there if the allegation of foul play occurred in St. Ann.
The Child Protection and Custody Act also requires the justice of the peace to report allegations of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16 to the Child Registry, established under the Child Protection and Protection Act. . Section 6 (2) of this law provides that anyone who holds information which leads them to suspect that a child has been, is or is likely to be abandoned, neglected or physically or sexually abused, or is otherwise in need of care and protection, reports to the registry. As the matter was brought to the attention of the justice of the peace, it became his duty to report the matter to the registry.
Cross, likewise, has a duty to report allegations of sex with a child under 16 to the registry. In his case, his conduct appears to be that of suppressing a criminal act by failing to cooperate with the investigation carried out by the police. Cross is reported in The Sunday Gleaner from May 30, 2021 as stating in an interview that the girls told her they didn’t want to go to the police, and that she felt she had to do it her way. If this is indeed a true report on her role in the case, she should be arrested and charged with obstructing the investigation. She, too, should be charged under section 6 (2) of the Child Welfare and Protection Act.
But it is further reported that Cross maintains that she is involved in “assisting alleged victims” by not providing any evidence to the police. She also allegedly admitted that three statements she had taken from the victims had not been provided to the police. This is clear proof that Cross acts as an investigator and protector of victims, a role that should be left to the police.
Cross did not disclose what security mechanism she has or how she has ensured the protection and safety of victims. The police should visit Cross and get his confirmation, or denial, for that matter about these allegations.
As far as Campbell is concerned, the police should take their own statements from the three victims and once they have credible statements and not unilaterally redacted statements, Dr Campbell should be charged and placed in court to answer these charges. .
The police should not allow Cross to be unilateral in this matter. This is unfair to the victims and makes a mockery of the police’s commitment to us to be fair and impartial in their investigation of all allegations.
The police must act now in this matter and let us know the truth about what is now widely discussed in the media, with denials and allegations, around an issue that should be treated as most urgent.
Linton P Gordon is a lawyer. Send your comments to The Observer or to [email protected].
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