Police rank denies cavity -searching teen

The female officer at the centre of the alleged sexual assault perpetrated on a teenager at the Ogle International Airport (OAI) on Sunday morning has denied committing the act.
“A statement has been obtained from the female rank (implicated in the allegation), who has denied to have done a cavity search of the passenger,” the Guyana Police Force said on Tuesday.
The Force also confirmed that the rank is attached to its Narcotics Branch.
Since the incident, three days ago, there has been a blame game played out between the Police Force and the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) as to which agency the implicated rank was from. However, in a statement on Tuesday, the Force “…acknowledge that the search of the 17-year-old…was conducted by a female rank of the Force’s Narcotics Branch”.
An investigation into the matter has since been launched by the GPF’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
The teenage girl was alleged to have been cavity-searched over the weekend, as she was about to depart Guyana for Barbados. In the process, she was sexually assaulted.
It has been reported that the 17-year-old, who was on her way to visit relatives, was allegedly subjected to a “strip search” by officers at the airport, before being placed in a room where a female officer allegedly inserted her finger in the girl’s private parts. The law enforcement rank had reportedly asked the teen to “spread out and cough”.
A close relative of the young lady has said the family is seeking professional/legal advice on the matter, and has accordingly declined to comment further on the alleged incident.
CANU Head, Michael Atherly, had initially condemned the act, telling the Guyana Times on Sunday afternoon that the search done on the teenager had been improperly carried out.
“…the officers had a right to take the person to the hospital and have a certified doctor carry out that search. The action that was taken was incorrect, and they had no right (to do what they had allegedly done),” Atherly had stated.
If the Policewoman is found culpable, she stands to be demoted, fined, or dismissed from the GPF.
Two weeks ago, while addressing the Annual Police Officers Conference, President David Granger had stated that the practice of transferring and demoting rogue elements would not end rogue behaviours in the GPF.
This “cavity search” allegation is being seen as a serious incident, given that Jamaican national Shanique Myrie had to be compensated US$38,000 by the Barbados Government after she alleged being sexually assaulted and raped by a female immigration officer at the Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados during a cavity search.
Myrie was awarded the sum as damages by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) after she had filed a lawsuit claiming she had been subjected to a dehumanising cavity search by a female immigration officer whilst being locked in a filthy room overnight, and deported to Jamaica in March 2011.