KINGSTON, Jamaica — Two Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldiers have been arrested, charged and are in police custody following the rape of a fellow woman soldier at Up Park Camp two weeks ago.

The men, a 22-year-old and a 19-year-old, are being held pending court on March 29.

The older man was charged for the offence of rape, grievous sexual assault and robbery with aggravation, while the other was charged with aiding and abetting all those offences.

Information reaching OBSERVER ONLINE is that the woman soldier, a member of the Jamaica National Service Corps (JNSC) was in the company of a male JNSC member at an abandoned building at Up Park Camp when they were approached by two armed and masked men who demanded JM$20,000 with the promise of not exposing the activities they were engaged in.

When the male JNSC member complied and left to retrieve the money, the woman was raped. The male JNSC member alerted other soldiers to what was happening and the soldiers swooped down, unmasked the men, and realised the perpetrators were also two male soldiers who are part of the JNSC.

In a written response to OBSERVER ONLINE, Lieutenant Nathan Curtis, civil military cooperations officer at the JDF, said they are aware of an incident that took place on Wednesday, March 10, 2021 involving members of the force and the matter was immediately reported to the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA) and is presently being investigated by them.

According to Lt Curtis, due to the swift action of members of the JDF, the two suspects were apprehended shortly after the incident and have now been charged by the police.

He said the suspects who are charged by the police are no longer serving members of the JDF. Lt Curtis said to his knowledge the victim is still a member of the JDF and is being given support.

Lt Curtis was however mum on the details, stating that based on the nature of the allegations, more information would be given as it becomes available and to the extent that they can under the circumstances.

He assured that the JDF is committed to every service member’s safety and security and will continue to provide full support in the protection and well-being of its members, and gives assurance of full cooperation with the civil authority.

But Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Radcliffe Gordon, crime officer at CISOCA, told OBSERVER ONLINE that on Thursday, March 11 at 8:30 pm, the police received a report coming out of Up Park Camp of allegations of rape committed against a female JNSC member.

DSP Gordon corroborated the circumstances around the rape, explaining that reports are that the victim was at a secluded section of Up Park Camp in the company of another JNSC member when they were approached by two men who threatened to expose that they were found in a situation where they could have been in trouble.

Subsequently, DSP Gordon said the men demanded money and threatened the young lady that if she did not perform oral sex on one of them and have sex with one of them, they would have reported her.

Following the ordeal, the victim was taken to the University Hospital of the West Indies, accompanied by a senior member of the JDF, who briefed detectives from CISOCA who subsequently arrested and charged the men.

DSP Gordon said that the victim was given referral for counselling at the Victims Services Division at the Ministry of Justice.

He added: “Any kind of sexual assault in whatever sphere of society –we are relentless in our pursuit for offenders of sexual assault and as such we urge persons who are victims to feel free to come forward. We have a set of compassionate investigators who are well trained and they will find that in their interaction with us they get the justice they seek.”

KIMBERLEY HIBBERT