Group of 4 see sex charges dropped by DPP

Posted: Thursday, March 17, 2016. 1:58 a.m. CST

By Aaron Humes: Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Cheryl-Lynn Vidal has directed the courts to withdraw charges of unlawful sexual intercourse against 4 males, 3 minors and an adult male identified as 22 year old Wilfred Ramirez.

The group of four were accused of all having sexual intercourse, one at a time, with an 11 year old school girl who said held against her will on November 20, 2014, a little over a year ago at a home in the Southside of Belize City.

Ramirez was recently convicted of keeping a prohibited firearm in a separate case and is serving four years in prison. Via memo, Director Vidal spoke in depth about her decision. According to the DPP, quote, “The medico-legal form completed by Dr. Luis Chulin states that the virtual complainant does not have any hymenal tears.

I have been informed by the file reader Sergeant Alfonso Aban that efforts have been made to get a report from Dr. Chulin to explain whether or not it is possible for a girl who has been carnally known more than once to not exhibit any hymenal tears; Sergeant Aban informed me via telephone conversation on January 15, 2016, that these efforts have been futile as the authorities at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) have stated that the doctor no longer works there and that his new place of employment is unknown to them.

Therefore, the evidential difficulty which I explain in my memorandum of July 27, 2015, cannot be explained because the police cannot locate the doctor.” End quote. Speaking to the complainant’s participation in the case, the DPP continues, quote, “The fact that the medico-legal form states that there are no hymenal tears makes this case with poor prospects of conviction of any of the accused.

Furthermore, the investigating officer has previously brought the virtual complainant for two separate interviews at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the virtual complainant on both occasions showed a reluctance to cooperate.

This reluctance gave me the strong impression that she is an incredibly unreliable witness whom us unlikely to be seen as worthy of belief by a jury of 9 persons.” End quote.

“It is for this reason that I directed the charges of unlawful sexual intercourse must be withdrawn from against the four accused,” concluded the DPP.

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