Georgetown: After allegations of sexual misconduct were levelled against former Bishops’ High School teacher; Coen Jackson months ago, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, (DPP) has recommended that he be charged with sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust.
A police investigation was launched after a former student of Jackson’s filed a report alleging that she had sexual contact with the teacher while she was still a student. Jackson had initially denied the allegations and was placed on $100,000 station bail. The teacher was also ordered to lodge his passport at the station.
The incident is said to have occurred at Durban Street, Lodge between December 2010 and May 2011. Jackson, 39, an Economics teacher attached to the Bishops’ High School, was sent on administrative leave after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.
The accusations against Jackson were first brought to the fore by Cultural Policy Advisor within the Ministry of Social Cohesion, Mr. Ruel Johnson. But, Jackson retained legal representation and denied the allegations of sexual abuse of students under his instruction. He has accused Johnson of taking such action, because he had been in communication with Johnson’s girlfriend, with whom he (Jackson) had also shared a relationship.
Johnson, in a letter of complaint to Chief Education Officer, Mr. Marcel Hutson, suggested that Jackson has been sexually abusing female students for many years.
Johnson alleges that the stories of abuse started in the late 1990s, beginning at another City secondary school, and followed Jackson’s career through attachments at several other schools.
“I’ve also gotten reports of his activities extending to private lessons. His victims altogether may very well be in the hundreds over the past 20 years,” said Johnson.
The Cultural Advisor’s letter of complaint was also sent to the Ministries of Social Protection, Legal Affairs, Public Health, Public Security and Social Cohesion.
The complaint had forced the Education Ministry into investigation mode. Jackson was sent on administrative leave to facilitate the investigation. At the end of the process, the findings were sufficient to warrant a police investigation.
In a statement, the Education Ministry said of its investigation, “The Ministry of Education’s Welfare Department in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Protection concluded its investigation and handed the matter over to the Guyana Police Force.”
Also, a committee, which was established to investigate the actions of the head teacher, concluded that she be reprimanded and offer an apology to the teachers and students of the school.
Comments on the matter from the school’s Head Mistress [HM], Ms. Winifred Ellis, had sparked public outcry. Based on a recording during a school’s assembly, the HM was heard referring to some girls of the school as “slack” and “loose” and suggested that they were to be blamed for any resulting sexual misconduct.
Protest action had in fact ensued, with protestors calling for the termination of both Jackson and Ellis.
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