Photo: Jospeh A. Camp, charged
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Apr. 15, 2024
An American national who is the brother-in-law of Jaylon Jones, 18, who has been charged for the murder of a Coast Guard officer, was himself charged in court for spreading false news due to comments he made in a Facebook post that alleged police mistreatment of his brother. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined.
Joseph Anthony Camp, 39, an American software developer of #5502-8th Street, Kings Park, Belize City, had been detained last Thursday, April 11, in connection with the false claims he made on Facebook and was granted bail in the sum of $400. At around 9:00 this morning, Camp walked to court in the company of his attorney, Sharon Pitts.
Approximately an hour later, he was called into Court #5, where he appeared before a Magistrate to be read a single charge of spreading false news.
Allegations are that on Thursday, April 11, Camp posted the following statement on a social media platform: “Breaking: Overnight my brother-in-law was shot by Belize City Police in a case of mistaken identity. Video shows that he was not the suspect they were chasing and he is now critical and still in the hospital but is not facing charges anymore”.
Those claims—that his brother-in-law was an innocent bystander who was mistakenly shot by police—have been refuted by the Police Department; and tonight his brother-in-law (Jaylon Jones, 18) is on remand at the Belize Central Prison after being charged for the murder of Belize City Coast Guard officer, 25-year-old Charles Winston James.
When the Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, had become aware of the post, he had instructed his officers to investigate the matter, and the social media account was learnt to be under the name of Joseph A. Camp@JoeyCamp2020.
Based on the information received, Cpl. Enan Montalvo was assigned to carry out a further investigation, and a link to the social media page was forwarded to Inspector of Police, Juan Garcia, from the Police Information Technology Unit for extraction of the post.
Camp was detained and cautioned and informed of his constitutional rights, which he exercised by contacting the Embassy of the United States; and he was then placed at the Precinct 2 cell block for detention.
When it was confirmed that Jaylon Jones was being charged for murder, Montalvo charged Joseph A. Camp for spreading false news.
When Camp appeared in court for his arraignment, he immediately pleaded guilty to the charge of spreading false news.
His attorney, Sharon Pitts, in her plea for mitigation to the court, asked the court to consider the fact that Camp did not waste the court’s time when he pleaded guilty immediately; that Camp is a first-time offender with no previous convictions; and that prior to this incident he was a law-abiding citizen who has donated to a basketball tournament and has assisted with donations to a hospital in Belize.
Camp had been facing a prison term of six months or a fine which was once $300 minimum, but had been increased to three thousand dollars.
However, Pitts asked the court to consider her client’s good character and to not impose a prison term or a steep fine for the offense, which in law is a misdemeanor.
The sitting Magistrate of Court #5 thus imposed a fine of $600 plus a $5.00 cost of court fine, which Camp was given until June 28, 2024, to pay; otherwise he will have to serve 3 months in prison.
Camp’s wife is Jaysha Jones, who is Jaylon Jones’s sister.
Jones was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until June 12, 2024 for James’s murder.