BELIZE CITY, Tues. Apr. 14, 2020– Corporal Jason Shaw, 46; Constable Leslie Martinez, 38; and Constable Anthony Villamil, 20, of Precinct 2 of the Police Department in Belize City, were arraigned in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court today on the charge of willful oppression.
They pleaded not guilty and were each offered bail of $1,000 and a surety of the same amount. They were able to meet bail and were ordered to return to court on July 14.
Police made the announcement today. The officers were charged after they coerced a man and a woman to engage in sexual intercourse, which they recorded on the camera of a mobile phone. They then put the video online. The video then went viral.
The incident occurred at about 6:00 on Sunday morning, April 5, in an abandoned house on Central American Boulevard in Belize City.
The man, 45, a laborer of Belize City, told police that he was under the abandoned house with a female friend when three policemen came, and one of them, who was holding a phone, told them that since they had been having sex, they should continue the sex act.
Fearing that they would be beaten, the man then engaged the woman in sex, while the policeman recorded the act.
Afterwards, when the couple drew apart, one of the officers asked the man, “Yu done,?” to which the man reportedly replied, “Yes, Sir.”
The officer then addressed the woman and after using a profane word, he reportedly said, “Yu wan breed now … yu wan breed fi da man deh!”
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said he was very irate when he saw the video, and he told the media that he is at a loss as to what could have possessed the officers to do such a thing, and that they were idiots, that what they did has nothing to do with the enforcement of the State of Emergency curfew, and that such people have no place in the Police Department. Williams went on to say that if it were up to him, he would dismiss them immediately, but there are steps and procedures which must be followed.
Commissioner Williams said that one of the three policemen, the corporal, had given notice that he was resigning from the department after serving since 2008. He had tendered his resignation about a week ago.
The Commissioner said that he had accepted the resignation and the corporal would have been free to move on with his life, but now, he will rescind the resignation acceptance and the corporal will be dealt with internally for this major breach. He will be taken before a police tribunal for various breaches of the Police Code and for bringing the department into disrepute. The tribunal will decide what happens to him.
Feature photo: (l-r) PC Jason Shaw and PC Anthony Villamil