Still no lawyers confirmed for pastor on rape charge, co-accused
Published:Friday | April 29, 2022 | 12:08 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
JASON ROSE, the St James-based pastor who is charged with the rape of a teenage girl, along with his wife Kehmi Rose, and the girl’s mother, have still not settled their legal representation, which they are expected to do when they return to court on July 28.
Although the three defendants had been expected to confirm who their lawyers will be, the St James Circuit Court was told on Wednesday that the trio had still not finished getting lawyers to represent them.
As a result, the case was set for further mention on July 28 and the defendants had their bails extended to that date.
Prior to the defendants’ need to settle legal representation, Jason Rose was represented by attorney Tamika Spencer-Anderson; Kehmi Rose’s lawyer was Adrian Dayes; and Martyn Thomas was the lawyer for the complainant’s mother, whose name is being withheld to protect the minor’s identity.
Wednesday’s mention of the case marks the fifth time the trio have appeared in the St James Circuit Court since the matter was first heard there on October 6, 2021, with subsequent appearances on October 14, December 8, and January 31 this year.
However, there have been few details released in regard to the in-camera matter, since the three defendants had the case transferred from the St James Parish Court to the Circuit Court on September 27, 2021.
Aside from Jason Rose’s rape charge, all three defendants are charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
In the case against Jason Rose, on May 28, 2021, the complainant, who was 15 at the time, reported that she had been raped by the pastor on his church’s compound, where she had gone to use the facility’s Internet for an educational project.
MOTHER CHARGED
Following the pastor’s arrest and charge, Kehmi Rose and the girl’s mother were arrested and charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and breaching the Child Care and Protection Act.
The allegations regarding the two female accused are that on June 10, 2021, the victim and her mother visited the offices of the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offices and Child Abuse, with the purpose of giving a statement to the police that the child’s initial rape accusation against the pastor was not true.
While being interviewed by the police in the presence of a Child Protection and Family Services Agency representative, the complainant reportedly explained that she was being forced to give the second statement by her mother, the accused pastor, and the pastor’s wife in order for the case to be dropped. The complainant’s mother was arrested on that day, and Kehmi Rose was arrested the following day.
Jason Rose first appeared before the parish court on June 14, 2021, where he was offered bail in the sum of $300,000 on the rape charge. However, he was remanded on June 16 in relation to an additional charge of perverting the course of justice, which the women were also charged with when they first appeared in court on that date.
All three defendants were denied bail at that time regarding the perversion of justice charge, out of concern that they would interfere with the complainant. A gag order was also imposed on the court by presiding parish judge Sasha Ashley, concerning the case’s details.