Full Text | Dayton Campbell strongly rejects sexual assault claims

People's National Party (PNP) General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell is strongly rejecting new allegations against him regarding sexual misconduct.

In a statement this afternoon, Campbell described the claims as baseless and scurrilous and accused PNP activist Karen Cross of being part of what he called a well-funded political agenda with the objective of forcing him out of office.

Cross along with bloggers Natalee Stack and Michelle Stern are the subjects of a defamation lawsuit filed by Campbell.

He has accused Cross and the other defendants of writing malicious, false, and defamatory comments on social media alleging that he had sex with girls who were under 16 years old.

In her defence filed in May, Cross submitted statements from three females who are alleging that they had sexual relations with Campbell when they were minors.

But Campbell is maintaining his innocence and is denying the claims.

Full Statement

I reject in the strongest of terms, recent and ongoing allegations made against my character by Karen Cross et al.

These allegations have been circulated widely across social media platforms and covered by some traditional media houses.

When allegations first surfaced online, the People's National Party (PNP) referred the matter to the police. I then filed a lawsuit against Karen Cross et al for defamation having publicly denied the allegations. After “extensive investigations into the claims,” the police stated that they “found no basis to the allegations that were made”.

The police further noted that Ms Cross “provided no evidence to substantiate the claims that she made nor was she able to provide any person interested in making a complaint against Dr Campbell”.

In May 2021, Ms Cross filed a set of documents in her defence. Included were three statements purportedly signed by a Justice of the Peace. All three statements were heavily redacted, edited by Ms Cross to hide pertinent information in the document. The names of the alleged authors of the statements were all redacted in the submission to the court.

The statements which have been submitted by her are dated before the police concluded their investigation and before the lawsuit was filed, and most importantly, these statements were not provided to the police. Even more so, the Justice(s) of the Peace who allegedly witnessed these statements would be obliged under the Child Care and Protection Act to bring these matters to the attention of the police, yet the police remain unaware of any such letters.

Having denied the allegations in the strongest of terms and based on this series of actions taken by Ms Cross to sully my reputation, I am extremely disappointed that media houses continue to carry unfounded claims. 

She seems to be part of a well-funded political agenda with the objective of forcing me to resign from my position as General Secretary. That would pave the way for a new General Secretary.

It is extremely unfortunate that at a time in which the national discourse has been so focused on gender-based violence, that Ms Cross and her benefactors would seek to trivialise this issue with baseless and scurrilous allegations. 

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