The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has advised the Guyana Police Force not to institute charges against Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman in connection with child molestation allegations made against him and that the investigation be closed, a reliable source said yesterday.
Stabroek News was unable to make contact with Crime Chief Leslie James and Public Relations Officer at the DPP Chambers, Liz Rahaman would only say that the file on Trotman was returned to the police yesterday.
Last year, Johnny Welshman made allegations that Trotman had sexually molested him as a child. Trotman and the Alliance For Change (AFC) have said the allegations were politically motivated, with the aim of destroying him. But Welshman has maintained that he is speaking the truth and that he is not linked to any political party.
Late last month Trotman had told this newspaper that he was confident that no charges would be laid against him as he did nothing wrong.
“I am confident that I will not be charged because there is nothing to charge me for… because the lies that were exposed were too many,” he had said.
However, Trotman, who had said he cooperated fully with the police during the investigation, revealed that the day the allegations were made was his worse day as Speaker.
Trotman said that based on all the information available to him, he was satisfied that the accusation was politically motivated and he was disappointed that “persons who hold themselves out as national leaders would sink to such depths.
“But sometimes it gives me a reality check that for some people acquiring power and holding power, it is not child’s sport, it is serious business. And therefore you would go to any end to hold it.”
Asked about the impact the allegation has had on his life, Trotman pointed out that “when you go to battle you get scars, some of them you wear it as badges as honour and some of them you are ashamed of.” He said while there would be a scar, it would not be a defining one because he has been strengthened by the support he has received from a wide cross-section of people in and outside of Guyana. “So the point is in politics you are going to take blows and then you can share blows. That’s the nature of politics; sometimes it gets a little rough but this will not define me and it will not hinder me,” he said.
