Black Immigrant Daily News

A senior lecturer at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Mandeville, Manchester remains in police custody in Florida, United States following his extradition from Jamaica on Thursday to face sexual battery charges dating back to the mid-1990s, in Margate, Florida.

Russell McLean, 65, is being held in a Broward County jail without bail on 16 charges, including sexual assault, burglary and kidnapping.

According to Local10 News in Florida, McLean, a behavioural and social sciences lecturer at NCU, was arrested in May of this year in Jamaica after a determined police investigator in Florida reopened a probe into a string of armed sexual batteries there decades ago.

Investigators alleged that McLean would “break into homes and threaten victims with a gun in order to assault them”, the report said.

Two of the crimes occurred in the city of Margate between June 1996 and November 1997.

The investigations into the incidents hit a snag because although victims gave the same description of the suspect, law enforcers had few leads into who the attacker was, or his whereabouts.

But on an unspecified date in 2007, evidence in a burglary case led to the identification of McLean as a person of interest.

Still, “the ongoing investigation failed to further implicate him,” the report said, adding that McLean eventually fled to Jamaica once he learnt that he was being investigated for that crime and others.

Determined not to shutter the cases, Detective Julio Fernandez reopened a probe into the incidents in 2015.

The officer managed to obtain “DNA evidence and compared it to DNA located in rape kits from 1996”, Local10 News reported.

It added that, “The results were conclusive that McLean’s DNA was a match”.

At that point, however, McLean’s whereabouts in Jamaica were still unknown to Florida law enforcement authorities.

An arrest warrant implicating the lecturer with multiple counts of armed sexual battery, armed kidnapping and armed burglary, was issued for McLean in 2020.

He was tracked down and arrested in Jamaica on May 24, 2022, and extradited on Thursday of this week after giving consent to be removed from the island without a challenge to the warrant, to the United States to answer to the charges.

With the Martgate Police Department suspecting that there may possibly be more victims stemming from McLean’s alleged criminal acts, victims or persons with relevant information are being asked to contact the department at (954) 972-7111.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Floyd Green, the Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), will now have direct oversight of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC).

The announcement of Green’s appointment was made by Prime Minister Andrew Holness at a NRSC meeting on Thursday.

Green also has primary responsibility for the implementation of the National Identification System (NIDS).

Holness expressed confidence in Green’s ability to handle his additional post, and said he (Green) has been a strong proponent of road safety.

“Let me note that I have appointed Minister Floyd Green to take and have direct oversight of the responsibilities of the National Road Safety Council,” stated Holness.

“I know you have been warmly received, Minister Green. You have been meeting with the Road Safety Council members and I know Dr (Lucien) Jones (the NRSC Vice-chairman) is taking good care of you and guiding you through the process,” the prime minister continued.

“I can say that Minister Green is a strong advocate for road safety, and his constituency is plagued by this problem by bike riders not following the rules (by) not wearing helmets,” he added.

According to Holness, in Green’s South West St Elizabeth constituency, as well, there are significant casualties as a result of motorcycle crashes.

“… Therefore, he (Green) is taking a direct and personal interest in ensuring that the road safety council is effective,” declared Holness.

Green has held several posts in the Holness Administration since the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) first won the 20216 General Elections, and again in 2020.

During the February 2016 to September 2020 term of the JLP Government, Green was State Minister in the then Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

He was then transferred and served as State Minister in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.

After defeating the People’s National Party’s (PNP) Ewan Stephenson by over 2,000 votes in the September 2020 General Elections, Green was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

An attorney by profession, Green resigned in September 2021 over a party incident.

Audley Shaw then took over the portfolio after Green’s resignation, and Pearnel Charles Jr was appointed in January of this year after a Cabinet reshuffle.

Green was also returned to the Cabinet in that reshuffle, and remains as Minister without Portfolio in the OPM.

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Police are investigating an unnatural death at a residence in Colleton Gardens, St Peter.

According to the police report, police personnel responded around 12:25 pm.

Police Information Officer Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss told media, It was reported that an elderly man was discovered slump and motionless in a chair in his house with what appeared to be blood and a wound to his head.

Medical personnel were summoned and ambulance arrived and found no sign of life. A medical doctor later visited the scene and pronounced death.

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As the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season gets into high gear, the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) has embarked on specialised training for its firefighters to be able to successfully conduct rescue operations in low-lying and flood-prone areas in Clarendon.

Speaking at a disaster preparedness town hall meeting in Rocky Point, Clarendon on Thursday, Assistant Commissioner of the JFB, Andrew Russell, said the intention is to have at least 50 per cent of firefighters in Clarendon equipped with the skills and knowledge to undertake rescue operations during flooding and hurricanes.

Special focus, he said, will be placed on Rocky Point, which has a history of food-related events caused by heavy rainfall.

“Rocky Point, as we all know it, is a low-lying and flood-prone area, and the Jamaica Fire Brigade, in recent time, has acquired a dinghy for rescue operations during flooding, because we are aware of the continuous effects of flooding in this particular geography,” he outlined.

Russell noted that the then ongoing training of firefighters to operate the dinghy would have ended on Friday (July 8).

“… And our quest is to ensure that by the end of August 2022, at least 50 per cent of the firefighters in the Clarendon Division are trained in specialist water rescue operations,” he informed.

The firefighters are also to be supported in their efforts through the acquisition of specialised equipment.

“We have also acquired and have in place specialised rescue ropes, which are available at fire stations in the division, particular for search and rescue operations.

“We have small tools like chain saws and other equipment that are available to treat with situations during hurricanes and heavy rainfall,” stated Russell.

Meanwhile, the assistant commissioner at the fire brigade said the equipment will better aid the firefighters to partner with the National Works Agency (NWA) to clear roadways of blockages to access flood-prone areas in Clarendon.

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