Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
The St. James police have vowed to leave no stone unturned in bringing to justice two men who robbed and raped two female workers at a children's home last week.
Both workers and children at the orphanage have been traumatised by the gruesome incident. Police say that about 9:00 p.m. last Friday, a watchman employed to the
facility went outside and left a door open.
He was pounced upon by two men, one armed with a knife and the other with a gun. The men tied up the watchman and took him inside where they proceeded to tie up three female employees on duty. The premises were ransacked and the workers, who had been paid earlier that evening, were robbed of more than $50,000 in cash.
Two of the women were then raped. Police say the ordeal went on for two hours without any of the workers being able to make an alarm. The men escaped on foot.
"These people are caring for children who are orphans and the
perpetrators knew that, yet
they preyed on them," said Superintendent Wilford Gayle, the crime chief in charge of Area One. "It is not going to affect the adults alone, but could also have significant effect on the young children, people who are associated with the home and the community as a whole."
Traumatic state
He added: "One can only
imagine what traumatic state the workers and the children in
particular must have found
themselves in. Our investigations are ongoing and we will not spare any efforts to bring these people to justice," Supt. Gayle stressed.
Meanwhile, the Montego Bay CIB, which is investigating the incident, said yesterday that no arrest had been made in connection with the matter.
Detective Inspector Paul Bernard, who is in charge of crime for Montego Bay, said that while there were no significant leads up to yesterday, the police would be
pursuing all leads in an effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.
