SMN News learnt that police arrested Rochester when they were looking for Jasmin Violenus (the mother of the suspects) in Middle Region. The source said that it turned out that the two brothers tried to implicate their stepfather in the sexual molestation scandal when they learnt that their stepfather is the one who enlightened their father about the acts they were committing against their two sisters. SMN News learnt that when police realized that the two brothers were lying to them they decided to turn the man over to immigration since he is living on the island illegally. A source close to police said that Rochester and the Violenus brothers were kept in the same cell at the Philipsburg Police Station and the Violenus brothers along with other prisoners in the cell beat the man on Friday since he is considered to be a snitch.
SMN News learnt that an acquaintance of Rochester tried to meet with immigration authorities last week when he learnt that Rochester is being held for deportation. The source said the acquaintance requested to see Rochester because he wanted to purchase a ticket but the immigration authority that is handling the case refused to authorize the visit. The source said that the acquaintance tried on numerous occasions to convince the immigration authority to allow him access but she refused. "I called the immigration officer on her cellular phone since she could not be found at the police station and she told me I should not call her on her cellular phone and that she could be reached between 8 and 4pm at the Police Station. This immigration officer at the Philipsburg Police Station violated Rochester's right to freedom when she refused to allow someone to get access to him I wanted the detainee's passport information and to inform him of the conditions under which I was going to purchase his plane ticket. No one should be kept in police custody unless it is absolutely necessary. If I had gotten access to the prisoner or his passport details this man would not have been beaten by the suspects he turned in and other prisoners," the acquaintance told SMN News.
Director of the Prison Rudssel Ricardo said he is responsible for the safety of all prisoners while they are in custody but he was not informed of Rochester's assault on Friday. Ricardo said that after he was contacted by SMN News he investigated and the watch commander at the Philipsburg Holding Cells told him that the suspects are not being held in the same holding cell. Ricardo confirmed that Rochester was beaten by two suspects who claimed that he raped their smaller sisters. The attack he said occurred around 1:15pm on Friday while the prisoners were taking fresh air. When asked if the prisoner (Rochester) was taken to see a doctor, Ricardo said he did not know.
It should be noted that Eric Rochester is the boyfriend of Jasmin Violenus whose sons sexually molested their two sisters. It is Rochester who told the two suspects father of the molestation which led to them being arrested. Police is still busy investigating the case of the sexual molestation of two minor girls and that investigation is far from being complete, yet the police opted to deport their only witness that was living in the house where the sexual molestation was taking place.
Two years ago some Jamaicans who were residing illegally on the island tried to assist police in solving the Afoo murder that took place in Dutch Quarter. The Jamaican nationals were the ones who saw the fleeing suspects and they assisted police in finding the gun that was used to shoot Eric. However, police chose to deport those witnesses because of their status on the island before they were able to identify the Afoo killers. The murder of Eric "Afoo Murder" still remains unsolved.
