Cops collar Crooks

Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer

Former head of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF), Harold Crooks, was nabbed on Thursday morning in Ocho Rios shortly after arriving in the island aboard the Carnival Liberty cruise ship which docked in the resort town.

Crooks had fled Jamaica in March after a warrant was issued for his arrest on allegations of carnal abuse.

Superintendent Gary Griffiths, chief of the St Ann police, told The Gleaner that Crooks was held at around 8 a.m. at the Ocho Rios pier.

"From all indications, he was coming from the USA. He was held on-board the Carnival Liberty, which had left the United States, then stopped in the Cayman Islands before coming to Jamaica," Griffiths said.

The police had launched a manhunt for Crooks in March after he failed to turn up for interviews with the police regarding the allegations.

In late March, Crooks had called The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre, saying the incident at the centre of the allegations involved a 16-year-old girl with whom he had a brief relationship.

He said, then, that contrary to reports which were made to the police, he did not have sexual relations with the girl until after her 16th birthday. Sex with her was consensual, Crooks had said.

"She asked me to apply for a birth certificate, so I knew her age. I knew the consequences. I know what carnal abuse is," Crooks told The Gleaner on March 24.

Crooks, who was then abroad, said he had no intentions of returning to Jamaica as he feared he would not be given a fair hearing.

On Thursday, Griffiths revealed that the police had got a tip on Crooks' arrival.