Belize: Police officer denied bail for allegedly raping female prisoner

Trigger warning: This article contains information of a sensitive nature. Details include the sexual assault of a woman. The information may be disturbing and trigger negative feelings or memories.

Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams has appealed against the bail of a police officer accused of raping a detained woman at a police station last Friday.

“Yes, I have come to object to bail because we believe the law is such that the officer must remain in jail until the case is heard,” Williams told reporters after the officer appeared in court on Monday.

The 45-year-old police officer allegedly offered to release the woman without charge in exchange for sex. He reportedly took the woman out of the cell and took her to another area of ​​the station, where he allegedly had sexual intercourse with her.

The Belize Police Department (BPD) said criminal and internal investigations were ongoing and the police commissioner condemned Marin’s actions.

“The ongoing internal investigation is designed to determine whether there was a failure of supervision or a dereliction of duty that may have enabled this egregious act. The BPD is committed to transparency and accountability and ensuring justice is served and the public’s trust is maintained,” police said in a statement.

Williams, who is also an attorney, appeared in lower court during Marin’s arraignment, where he objected to bail.

He told reporters afterward that his appearance in court in a fairly banal, straightforward criminal case was intended to demonstrate the importance of the case.

“As I have said, we have done our best to get rid of these rogue officers who continually do things that embarrass the department. My presence here is a strong signal that we are doing everything we can to ensure that individuals harmed by the actions of the police receive justice.

“The person who is the victim was a prisoner in police custody. The investigation revealed that the police officer solicited her for sex in exchange for her release. He then led her out of her cell block where the act took place. We have secured several statements as well as video footage that support her accusation,” Williams added.

Williams said the officer in question must have been aware that there were cameras in the cell block area, adding: “Every officer who works in that cell block area knows there are cameras there.”

The police chief said that although the camera did not record the act itself, it did record him taking her out of the cell and taking her to the scene where the alleged rape took place.

Williams said the officer was “just the cell block guard, his job was just to make sure the prisoners were OK.”

“If they needed water or something like that, he would provide it, but if it was a female prisoner and a female prisoner had to be taken out of the cell, that shouldn’t have been his responsibility. A female police officer should have done that.”

“So his action in taking her out of the cell block was wrong and what’s more, he said she told him she wanted a cigarette. He even got her a cigarette and the reason he took her out of the cell block, according to him, was because she wanted to smoke a cigarette, which again is completely wrong.

“So we have experienced a number of breaches of our internal policies that are also being addressed. There was another female prisoner in the cell block and yes, she saw what happened and she had some concerns and whenever the shift changed and the other officers came, she was the one who reported to the police first,” he added.