Lawyer withdraws from rape case against St James-based pastor
Published:Thursday | July 28, 2022 | 2:59 PM
Jason Rose, the St James-based pastor who is charged with the rape of a teen girl, will have to find new legal representation as his lawyer has pulled out of the case.
Tamika Spencer-Anderson asked the St James Circuit Court on Tuesday to remove her name from the record.
The case against Rose has been set for mention on October 3.
The pastor, his wife Kehmi, and the teen's mother, whose name is being withheld because the complaint is a minor, are before the court.
In addition to the rape charge, Rose is also charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
So too are his wife and the mother of the teen girl.
The court on Tuesday vacated a warrant that was issued for the teen's mom over her failure to appear.
In the case against Jason Rose, allegations are that on May 28, 2021, the complainant, who was 15 at the time, reported that she had been raped by the pastor on his church's compound.
The teen reported that she went to the church to use the Internet for an educational project.
Following the pastor's arrest and charge, Kehmi Rose and the girl's mother were arrested and charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and breaching the Child Care and Protection Act.
The allegations in relation to that matter are that on June 10, 2021, the girl and her mother visited the police's Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offices and Child Abuse to give a statement that the child's initial rape accusation against the pastor was not true.
While being interviewed, the complainant reportedly explained that she was being forced to give the second statement by her mother, the accused pastor, and the pastor's wife in order for the case to be dropped.
The complainant's mother was arrested on that day, and Kehmi Rose was arrested the following day.
- Christopher Thomas
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