By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

THE Supreme Court heard on Friday that crucial evidence collected by a police investigator in an incest case against a father accused of sexually abusing his ten-year-old daughter is missing.

Among the missing evidence is a journal documenting alleged incidents of sexual abuse between 2015 and 2019, as well as a cellular phone containing voice note recordings of conversations between the victim and the defendant. These items were secured for safekeeping at the Abaco Police Station in 2021.

 A Freeport man is facing five counts of incest. It is alleged that he sexually molested his daughter in 2015 when she was ten. The abuse continued into the girl’s early teens until 2019.

 On Friday, Corporal 3653 Andrea Duncanson testified that she collected, properly labelled and secured a journal and cellular phone that were collected as evidence from the complainant and secured in an evidence drawer.

 CPL Duncanson, now assigned to the Financial Intelligence Section in New Providence, was attached to the Criminal Investigation Department in Abaco in 2021. In May 2021, she was transferred.

 The court heard that on March 26, 2021, CPL Duncanson reportedly received information around 5.15pm concerning a suspect and conducted investigations into the matter.

 The police officer, the complainant, the mother, and the accused visited three locations on April 1, 2021, including a duplex residence in Murphy Town, where the victim pointed out three areas: a front bedroom, hallway, and the front room where alleged sexual abuse occurred.

 CPL Duncanson said they also visited another location in Murphy Town, in the front of a wooden structure, as well as a local resort where the victim claimed certain incidents had occurred.

 She said she was present on April 2, 2021, when Sergeant 2937 Genisko Bullard conducted a recorded interview on April 2.

 Based on information received from the victim, the father was asked whether he had engaged in oral sex with his daughter, forced her to perform oral sex on him, told her that he wanted her to feel “sweet pain”, and then attempted to engage in sexual intercourse with the victim.

 She said the defendant denied everything. Officer Duncanson said the father was also questioned about a voice recording on the victim’s cellular phone, in which he stated that he didn’t know what came over him when his daughter confronted him about his actions.

 Corporal 2937 Bullard said the father was also questioned about alleged incidents in Abaco in 2015 and 2016, an alleged incident in Freeport in 2018, and another in Murphy Town, Abaco, in 2019. During the 2019 incident, after engaging in oral sex with his daughter, he allegedly told her she ‘tasted good.’”

 The defendant, he said, denied saying that or sexually abusing his daughter. Officer Bullard said he also refused to sign the record of interview.

 During cross-examination, defence attorney Brian Hanna asked Officer Duncanson whether she had travelled to Freeport to investigate the alleged incidents by visiting the locations where they occurred.

 She said she had not conducted any investigations in Freeport.

 Mr Hanna then referred to a medical report from the doctor who examined the victim, which indicated that no sexual activity had taken place.

 Ms Duncanson said the victim reported the defendant had attempted to have sexual intercourse with her, but that there was no penetration.

 Mr Hanna also questioned the officer about the journal she had collected from the victim and its whereabouts.

 CPL Duncanson explained that in May 2021, she was transferred from Abaco but had properly labelled and secured both the journal and the victim’s cellular phone, which contained recorded voice notes, in an evidence drawer in Abaco. She said neither item could not be found.

 The attorney further inquired as to whether the Ministry of Social Services had been notified about the alleged incidents involving the complainant.

 The officer said a social worker was present during the investigation; however, when asked whether a social worker’s report had been requested, she could not recall.

 Mr Hanna suggested that the police had no evidence other than the complainant’s statement, which his client denied in the recorded interview.

 “Do you have any evidence to support the complainant’s allegations?’ he asked.

“No,” CPL Duncanson replied.