By Destiny Johnson
Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe contends that the time taken to investigate allegations of rape against a sitting member of parliament is not excessive.
Minister Munroe was responding to claims made by attorney Bjorn Ferguson who represents the woman who accused North Abaco Member of Parliament Kirk Cornish of rape and physical abuse in April.
Just before the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Minister Munroe told reporters that as far as he knows, based on remarks by Assistant Commissioner of Police B.K Bonamy Jr. police are still investigating.
Attorney Ferguson has alleged that the investigation into the matter has been stalled due to the high profile of the accused; however, Minister Munroe says those claims are false.
“I don’t really understand his reference.
“I practiced before the courts for 31 years before taking this office, and the time that investigations take is driven less than by who you are than by the facts of a matter.
The minster further contended that the longer an accuser takes to come forward, the longer the investigation takes.
“It’s fairly simple. They say they were raped, they come immediately to the police station, they’re carried to the hospital.
“All of that happens in the short compass, whether the person in that instance is rich, powerful, famous, doesn’t really matter,” Minister Munroe said.
“The longer it takes for you to come forward then the more period of time that the police are investigating. That just stands to reason.
“So, if you are making a complaint a month later, they have to investigate your interactions and communications over that month.
“That takes longer than investigating your interactions and communications over one hour.”
Back in early April, the accuser filed a complaint with police on Grand Bahama against the first time MP.
Cornish turned himself into police for questioning nearly two weeks after the allegations made rounds in local newspapers.
Commissioner of Police, Clayton Fernander told reporters at a recent press briefing that officers were investigating to ensure that all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s crossed
