Commission says evidence is not enough for action against legal officer

There is insufficient evidence to proceed with disciplinary action against a legal officer accused of making sexual advances toward an alleged rape victim who had turned to him for help in another rape case involving two policemen.
That’s the finding of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission which was asked to investigate and remove the official from the woman’s case, amid her fears the sex case would be hampered because she did not give in to the advances.
The decision of the St. Lucia-based commission has, according to sources in Antigua, been communicated to the parties.
It comes two and a half months after the female complained of the alleged inappropriate conduct of the legal officer to whom she had turned for advice this year in relation to a 2017 sex case in which she’s the accuser.
The young woman sent off the complaint against the official on September 23 and had not heard from the authorities until recently.
The Commission reportedly reached out to the official and asked for a response which was submitted in October.
Having received the response, they have now decided the matter cannot go further with disciplinary action in the face of insufficient evidence.
The young woman’s complaint was that the official made sexual propositions to her and, as a result, she wanted the authorities to remove him from the earlier case in which she is the alleged victim of rape and buggery.
She complained that she feared her rejection of the legal officer’s sexual advances would negatively impact her case.
The young woman alleged that she turned to the official for help after several months passed without any action from the police who were investigating her complaint that she was raped by two cops.
It was during her exchanges with the legal officer that he allegedly made his advances.
She also submitted the WhatsApp chat history between her and the official, the call recording of their conversation and a screenshot showing the official’s face as it appeared during a video call between them.
The woman, who is in her 20s, reportedly made her first complaint of the advances to a female officer of the court who allegedly ignored her, then she reportedly turned to other officials who advised her to write to the judicial and legal services commission.
The complaint was made to the commission since it is the body authorized to discipline the legal officer in question.