Government legislator pleads not guilty to rape and other charges

NASSAU (CMC):

A government legislator has been released on US$9,000 bail and will return to court on November 16 after he pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, assault and threatening to kill a woman earlier this year.

Kirk Cornish, 48, denied the allegations when he appeared before Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson that the prosecution alleges he had committed between January 20 and April 4.

He is accused of the rape of a 35-year-old woman on two separate occasions and threatening to kill her on April 4. He is also accused of allegedly assaulting her on January 20 and again on March 25.

The police had issued a statement in August stating that “preliminary reports indicate that around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 7, 2023, a 35-year-old female … reported to police that she was sexually assaulted and threatened by a male known to her.”

Cornish had in an earlier statement said the charges are “based on allegations which are totally false.

“I am fully confident that the facts which emerge during the judicial process will prove my innocence. I look forward to ending this nightmare. The facts will show that this was a break up that was manipulated and exploited for political reasons – and nothing more,” he added.

In August, Cornish was forced to resign as parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Phillip Davis said then that an independent Director of Public Prosecutions has determined that there is sufficient evidence to bring charges against the legislator.

“It is now up to our judicial system to resolve the outcome, so I will not be providing additional comment except to say that my prayers are extended to all who are suffering because of this matter,” Davis said.