— says Johnson, maintains teacher preyed on young girls

DESPITE the denial of allegations of sexual grooming of school-aged girls attending the Bishops’ High School and several other public and private education institutions by Business and Economics teacher Coen Jackson, Cultural Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Social Cohesion, Ruel Johnson maintains that the teacher needs to be punished for his alleged wrongdoings.

In response to statements made by Jackson in the presence of his attorneys, Jerome Khan, Priyanka Sookraj and Siand Durjhon at a press conference on Tuesday, Johnson said the evidence is clear for all to see and noted that there is an overwhelming amount of complaints levelled against the teacher who has since taken a leave of absence from Bishops’ High.

Additionally, the Ministries of Education and Social Protection are in receipt of the formal complaint filed by Johnson along with at least one statement from a victim. Both entities have indicated they are actively investigating the allegations of sexual grooming and misconduct of several female students of the senior secondary school.
“I have been informed that more than one formal case is in various stages of preparation against Mr. Jackson. I believe he needs to take these seriously,” said Johnson who noted that he was contacted by Jackson’s attorney, Jerome Khan, on Friday.

During their interaction, Johnson said Khan indicated that he was merely acting as an elder in mediating a dispute between two friends.
“I corrected Mr. Khan and said I have never been friends with Mr. Jackson and that I have encountered overwhelming evidence of his predatory behaviour on young students at the Bishops’ High School and nothing was being done about it.

“I said that I had no interest in negotiation and that I suggest that Mr. Jackson find himself a competent attorney,” the Cultural Advisor stated, while referencing a Facebook post made last Friday. Khan reportedly spoke of the potential impact such allegations would have on Jackson’s still promising career.

“… but was informed by me that his behaviour disqualified from further being around young women,” said Johnson who then recalled that the attorney “floated the possibility of Jackson’s resignation bringing an end to the issue”.
The Government official made it clear that while he wants Jackson removed from the school system, there were allegedly criminal liable aspects to his behaviour – under the Sexual Offences Act – that he could not guarantee would not be pursued.

‘GENIAL ARBITER TO RIGHTEOUS ATTORNEY’
He said Khan transformed from the “genial arbiter” into the “righteous attorney” of Jackson who is seeking to “obfuscate and distract”.
Johnson did not address Jackson’s allegations that the accusations against him spurred from some “serious disagreements”. In fact, Johnson said, “I’m unsure how to dignify that with an answer, except perhaps to say, that if my charges of his predation were unfounded, he could easily have shown me to be both intellectually adequate and a liar by answering those charges on social media where he is known to be zealous in his arguments and, to his mind, ‘intellectually adequate’. Instead, he deleted his account.”

Jackson told the media that Johnson was upset with him because he was in contact with an ex-girlfriend, who now happens to be Johnson’s girlfriend and a former student of the Bishops’ High School.
“I also can’t dignify Mr. Jackson’s statement that he was threatened over contact with a young woman, except to say, that since this issue has started, multiple young women have in fact come out to say publicly that he has sexually propositioned them while they were his students at various institutions, including the Guyana Technical Institute, the Business School, School of the Nations, the Georgetown Technical Institute, Leonora Technical Institute, and Mae’s.”

He pointed too, to public statements made by the teacher on his Facebook platform on the subject of a Parfaite Harmonie pastor allegedly sexually assaulting and stalking a member of his congregation.
“After quoting the story’s account of the Pastor’s stalking and making sexual advances to the victim, Jackson asks ‘Can you explain how this woman is a “victim”?…Unwanted advances don’t quite meet the standard of victimhood: not every unsavoury encounter makes one a victim’,” said the Cultural Policy Advisor, who reminded that those words were publicly stated by Jackson.

“These are the words written himself by a predatory man whom many young girls have claimed to be sexual harassed, propositioned or groomed by him while they were students under his care in a position of trust, and his behaviour has held true to this philosophy.”
Additionally, Johnson believes there was a desperate attempt to cover Jackson’s tracks. “I have received multiple complaints from former victims of him requesting that he delete damning correspondence between them including his penchant for sending pictures of his genitalia.”

FUNDAMENTALLY IRRELEVANT
Given the aforementioned, the Government official said he can understand why Jackson sought to make up issues that are “fundamentally irrelevant to the reality of his predatory behaviour and the systematic covering up of the same by the Bishops’ High School.”
He finds the claims by multiple young women of varying degrees of sexual violence over a period of 20 years, to have been suppressed, ignored and derided by the administration of the Bishops’ High School for the past 11 years.

According to Johnson, the teacher during his 15-year tour of duty at several schools was placed at approximately 10 institutions, more than one per year.
“It was at one of the most prestigious secondary education institutions in Guyana – ironically the one with a specific reputation for excellence in educating young girls – that his predatory behaviour found its most lasting existence, over a decade,” Johnson stated, while noting that Jackson’s lawyers failed to address the issue of libel despite their claims that he has fabricated the allegations.

He noted that in his posts he did not name Jackson or the secondary school, while adding that the matter is personal to him as he has a young female relative attending the institution where Jackson is reportedly given “a free pass”.
Notwithstanding his reservations, Johnson said he allowed the process to take its course. Tuesday, Khan chided Johnson for stating that he had no confidence in the internal school system, while stressing that his client deserves a fair hearing in keeping with the principles of natural justice.

On Monday, the head teacher of the Bishops’ High School was heard speaking to the female students of the school in a condescending manner. She addressed them as “slack” and “loose” while chiding them for not defending their teacher on Facebook
“Considering Principal Ellis’ degradation of female students and her berating them for not going on social media and defending a teacher accused of predatory behaviour, I believe my lack of faith in the Bishops’ administration to address a predatory staff member was justified,” Johnson stated.

The cultural policy advisor said Jackson has been allowed to groom and molest the female students of the school.
“I found out, and I acted. Because of that action, thankfully – as a first step – Coen Jackson’s predatory shadow no longer falls over Bishops’.”