Erika Marie Twist
BELIZE CITY, Tues. May 27, 2025
Tonight, a sales agent at a call center was convicted under the Cyber Crime Bully Act for the offense of “us[ing] a computer system to disseminate a false statement with the intent to cause another person to be subject to public ridicule, contempt, hatred or embarrassment”, after she made defamatory allegations against a local bank employee in a Facebook post under the user name “Erika Martinez”.
In the post, the accused sales agent, Erika Marie Twist, 43, of Rhaburns Alley, Belize City, claimed to be related to a 15-year-old minor who was allegedly the victim of common assault by a man known to them.
Twist, it is said, posted these words, “If she ever kissed a man before … following that, he asked her if he could get a kiss from a 15-year-old …”
On May 7, 2025, the man whom Twist accuses of the assault, a 41-year-old Northside resident who is employed at a bank as a Senior Monetary Advisor, was charged criminally with the offense of “common assault upon a minor”, and was granted bail.
The man subsequently visited the Crimes Investigation Branch and reported that on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at around 10:58 p.m., he became aware of a post made on Facebook through an account listed under the name Erika Martinez.
According to the man, he knows Erika Martinez well, as she is also the relative of a female minor who had made an allegation against him.
The man said he read the post which said [slightly edited]: “So, Monday morning my relative received a call from her daughter’s school, with the child on the other side of the line frantic in tears; because it was a shock and still is, because she don’t want to come out of the house now. Anyways, she told her mom she got a ride from [the man, who they know] to school. Upon reaching school he stopped at the second gate and asked her, if she ever kissed a man before. Following that, he asked her if he could get a kiss … from a 15-year-old who is not even close to sexually active. Mein, just the thought of this have me scoop maaaaf … because you watch my relative from their mother’s belly, mein. How could you be a pervert to her. When my relative reported the issue, it’s just a slap on the wrist, and he’s out to do it again to another mother’s child. I could have my way, orange suit fit me just fine. I looked at it in a different way now. Mothers, parents, trust no who with your child. This is a big eye-opener for me.”
According to the man, Twist even posted a picture of him under the post.
In his report, the man told the police that the post caused him considerable embarrassment, and that it defamed his character, as he is not that kind of person, and does not want the public to perceive him as that kind of person.
At her arraignment this evening, Twist appeared unrepresented before Magistrate Black in Court #6, where she pleaded guilty to the charge with an explanation.
The first-time offender was imposed a non-custodial sentence of a fine of $400 plus a $5.00 cost of court fine, which she was given until June 30, 2025 to pay; otherwise she will have to serve 4 months in prison.
Twist, who was very emotional and apologetic, told Magistrate Black that she posted the comment out of anger, after she heard what had happened to her relative.
She told the court that she “was so upset, because at that age” she too was assaulted.
It hurt her so much, said Twist, because the man who assaulted her relative is someone they know well, and she never expected him to do something like that to her relative.
Twist also noted that she had no idea that posting such a comment was a crime, and explained that she had taken down the post 3 hours after it was posted.
Magistrate Black, in imposing a non-custodial sentence, told Twist that he took into consideration the fact that this is Twist’s first conviction for such an offense; that she saved the court time in entering an early guilty plea; and that she was remorseful for her actions.