Trotman likely to be cleared of Welshman’s sexual assault allegations

Last Updated on Thursday, 16 October 2014, 2:34 by GxMedia

House Speaker Raphael Trotman

Police were this week due to seek advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) about the sexual assault allegations by a young man against House Speaker, Raphael Trotman but already investigators do not believe that there is sufficient to charge him.

Senior police officers familiar with the probe told Demerara Waves Online News that although the Police Force’s Legal Advisor, Retired Justice Claudette Singh could offer her advice, the law is clear that the DPP must handle such reports.

The Sexual Offences Act states that the DPP must provide advice in such matters.

Asked whether, based on the information collected so far, the Speaker would be charged, one police source said “they don’t have anything there” in suggesting strongly that Trotman would be cleared of the allegations.

Twenty-three year old Johnny Anthony Welshman has alleged that Trotman had sexually assaulted him while he was a teenager. The House Speaker has vehemently denied those accusations and he and his Alliance For Change (AFC) political party have deemed them politically motivated at a time when the opposition-controlled House is preparing to debate a no-confidence motion against the government.

Welshman has also leveled similar allegations against his father and his father’s friend. However, his claim against that man who lives at Linden-Soesdyke Highway community has fallen through based on his account of where the acts were committed.

He has shown police an area of the house that did not exist while he was a teenager.

The House Speaker has already secured a High Court order, restraining Welshman from publishing the allegations locally or on Facebook. Those Facebook posts have since been removed.

Trotman has confirmed knowing Welshman and has acknowledged providing him with a very broad recommendation because he knew the family.