7 News Belize

The 1999 Allegation Against Mark Flowers
posted (August 2, 2016)
Tonight, Superintendent of Police Mark Flowers is out on bail facing two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge. Last week Wednesday we ran a story digging into a past incident - when Flowers was accused of sexual assault. We stress that he was never criminally charged, but he was demoted from AIP to Corporal after a female police recruit accused him of sexual assault. Last week we reported that she was kicked out of the Police Training Academy because she left the compound without permission. Well, this long-suffering victim of alleged sexual assault says that detail forced her to come forward and tell her story - after 17 years. Last week Thursday she spoke to Jules Vasquez - she asked for her identity to be concealed:...

Victim
"When I heard it on the news last night that the young lady didn't disobeyed the rules, I said it hurts, because I guarantee I did not break any rules. I asked permission and they said you cannot come out unless a senior officer goes with you. He was the only senior officer at the time on the campus and I asked him because I was hungry. I did eat my supper and the kitchen was closed already. I trusted him to go with me. So I went into the vehicle and we went. While we were approaching Diamonds Restaurant, I didn't see him stopping and so I said 'sir where are you going?' and then he said to me 'dont worry, I am coming back right now.' I said 'sir, the furthest I told Mr. Dubon was I was going right at Diamonds to buy my food.' He said don't worry. So we were coming out of Belmopan like heading towards Belize. I said 'sir, where are we going?' because I did not say I was coming here. He said 'don't worry' and when he diverted into a dark area and I still was asking him where were we going. How I knew it was an airstrip was when the light from his vehicle flashed and I said 'sir what are we coming to do here on this airstrip?'"

Jules Vasquez
"This is at Hector Silva Airstrip?"

Victim
"Yes sir. So he reverse and he stop the vehicle on the airstrip and then he said 'you know I like see you long time.' I said 'sir, I am not here for that' and he said 'no worry, nothing will happen.' I said 'sir, I am not here for that.' He put my hand and he said 'come and touch me, I will touch you.' I said 'sir, I am not here for that.'"

Jules Vasquez
"Where did he want you to touch him?"

Victim
"He pulled my hand towards his pants, towards his leg like on his private and I said 'sir, I am not here for that.' He said 'nothing will happen.' That was what he told me. Like 5 minutes after that I saw a vehicle light coming. Now I was frightened, because I don't know what the heck is happening. This place is jet black, its dark. Nothing you can see there and he took my head and he put down my head and he said just put down you head and he held my head down and I said 'sir what is happening?' and the vehicle came and it like wheeled around. I lift head and I saw the back of the vehicle and I recognized the vehicle, because the vehicle use to go onto the campus of the training academy. That was when I recognized it was a CIB vehicle from Belmopan. After the vehicle left like 5 minutes after, he said 'let's go.' That's what he told me."

"I was in training school, I was crying and I told one of my friends Sharon this was what happened and I said he told me not to say anything. I say what can I do what can I say, because at the end of the day I don't know if my life is in jeopardy, but I need to let somebody know what happened. That was what I told Sharon when I came back."

"Like I said 18, I have never left home, this was the first time leaving home out of my mom's house and....."

Jules Vasquez
"You jumped into the vehicle with a strange man. That is what somebody who doubt your story would say. How do you respond to that?"

Victim
"At the end of the day, I believe that as an officer who lives on the campus, for me I trues this person because he is a senior officer."

Jules Vasquez
"Someone might say but man, you never got raped, he just try haul and pull you. You did the right thing. You said no and no meant no and he drop you back. So then why bring it up 17 years later? That's what a doubting person might say."

Victim
"The thing is that even though he did not, I did not know what would have taken place on that airstrip. I don't know if he had any dealings to go on that airstrip. My life was in danger and at the end of the day I kept quiet, because I said you know what I didn't want to have anything. I have been hurt, it's like I tried, I go to different people to see if I could have found help - nobody. I didn't get the justice. I seek help and when I heard it on the news and the way it was, I said I have to let people know what took place, because at the end of the day I am the one living it, I am the one living in hurt for so many years. I did not even discussed it with my children. Not even my children knew. So I said you know what, it's about time I let people know exactly what happened."

Jules Vasquez
"So you told the kids when?"

Victim
"My kid are just hearing this today."

Jules Vasquez
"Really."

Victim
"Only my mom and my stepdad knew what happened."

Tomorrow, tune in for part two of this alleged victim's story - when she tells us how she tried to many times get back into the police department after being sent home from the training academy one week before passing out. Tomorrow, she'll tell us how policing was her dream and this one incident put her off it forever.

We held off from airing that story for days because we were trying to get comment from superintendent Mark Flowers. Last week, he promised to grant us an interview to give his side of the story. Flowers never showed up. Yesterday, we got in touch with his attorney, Dickie Bradley, to inform them both that our interview with the alleged victim was going to air, but neither of them have gotten back to us.

In a conversation with us on last week Friday, however, Flowers refuted all claims that he sexually assaulted her. He asserted boldly that if there was any such assault, he would have been brought up on charges by his police superiors. Though, he was vague about exactly what he meant, he said that this same lady "went out" with both him and another police officer. He said, quote, "We were all adults."".

When we challenged him on the repercussions of his association with this lady who almost became a cop, he said, that she was disciplined because she "went out" with him that night, and she was not supposed to leave the compound. As we told you, our information is that Flowers was disciplined for his association with this lady recruit, and he was demoted from an Assistant Inspector in charge of the Dragon Unit Belmopan to the rank of Corporal. We put it to him that it was because of this severe disciplinary action which forced him out of the Department, and he refuted that categorically, stating that he was the one who resigned. He said no one made him do that.

The alleged victim has tried for years to get back into the recruit training for years after that, even making an attempt last year. She has failed in every attempt, and she believes that it is because she has been blacklisted, ever since that tumultuous exit.

Flowers, on the other hand, resurfaced one year after resigning due to this incident. He was working at the Belize Central Prison, and when it was privatized, he was absorbed into the Scenes of Crime Unit as a civilian staffer. He later rejoined the police as a Sergeant, and from there he quickly regained ranks, ascending with lightning speed to Superintendent under the UDP.

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