A policewoman who was charged with corruption-related charges relative to a probe of rape and robbery, allegedly committed by another member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in Black River, St Elizabeth last year, is to stand trial on September 10.
The date was set when Constable Lavern Hendricks appeared in the St Elizabeth Parish Court last week.
She is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in a public office.
Hendricks, a resident of Ginger Hill district in the parish, had her $300,000 bail subsequently extended until the expected start of her trial in September.
Reports from the police are that on January 30, 2023, a woman was stopped during a vehicle checkpoint police operation and a breach of the Road Traffic Act was detected.
Constable Alwayne Hill, who has been charged in connection to the case, allegedly solicited money in exchange for not prosecuting the woman.
She was taken to an automated teller machine (ATM), and was reportedly sexually assaulted.
According to the police, the woman subsequently made a report to Hendricks, who was on duty at the time.
However, Hendricks allegedly told the woman to lie in exchange for money, thereby obstructing the course of justice, the police said in a release from the Corporate Communications Unit (CCU) at the time.
The policewoman also reportedly gave a false statement to colleagues who had subsequently launched an investigation.
The police said the report was elevated to a senior investigator, and a case file was prepared and submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), which recommended that Hill and Hendricks be charged.
Hill was charged with rape, grievous sexual assault, forcible abduction, corruptly soliciting, and simple larceny relative to the incident.
