Police have stepped up patrols and investigations in Exchange District following the rape of several women in the community near to Ocho Rios, St Ann. Police sources said the rapes have occurred in several communities near to Ocho Rios to include Bonham Springs, Bonham Heights, River View, River Heights, Middle Street, and other sections of Exchange proper. Police investigations suggest that the rapes are the action of more than one person and say they are not the acts of a serial rapist. They say they have used Electronic Facial Identification Techniques, to show sketches to victims and know that more than one rapist is on the loose.
Police say women walking alone or in their homes alone are the ones targeted. (blurb)
Reports received by The Times indicate that several rapes have been reported to the police, including some outside of the areas named. In one incident, in Breadnut Hill, a 50-year-old woman was hospitalized after the assault. Police Superintendent for Ocho Rios, ??? Haughton denies reports to the North Coast Times, that a woman was viciously assaulted last week and had to be hospitalized at Cornwall Regional Hospital, St James.
NO PANIC
He said some of the reports being heard now were coming out of consciousness raised by the police in the community about the rapes and the need for people to seek to secure themselves. “I am happy people are not panicking,” the superintendent said. Superintendent Haughton did acknowledge however that there were reports that one of the rapists had used physical violence in subduing a woman and raping her. In one case, the rapist used a concrete block to hit a woman over the head before assaulting her. Reports are that in addition to the rape, other violence has been used against the victims. “All rape is violent,” the superintendent said. Police have also had reports that suggest that in cases of robbery attempts at rape have been made. In one case, a woman held up on the street was told by the armed man to go over into bushes adjoining the road. However she ran and escaped. Superintendent Haughton says awareness of the rape incidents is high and that residents in the Exchange and broader Ocho Rios area are cooperating. “There is no day that goes by without a police investigation going on in those communities,” Superintendent Haughton said. He said police are to hold several meetings with groups, to include churches and street corners to update them on police action and to help give tips to prevent rape. “These persons must be caught,” he said noting that composite sketches are to be issued to help people identify the suspects.
