BELMOPAN, Belize, May 5, CMC – A police officer, who has been on suspension and on bail since 2023 on charges of sexual offenses against a minor, has been denied bail when he appeared before a magistrate on a charge of rape.
The officer, appeared before Senior Magistrate Mannon Dennison on Monday afternoon, where he was formally charged with four indictable counts of child rape.
Prosecutors allege that three of the incidents occurred in December 2024, when the child was 10 years old, and that the fourth incident took place in 2025, when the child was 11 years old.
The officer, who was not represented at the hearing, was told that med that bail was not an option and that the offences fall under Section 16 of the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act, which leaves magistrates no discretion to grant bail.
The officer was remanded to the Belize Central Prison, and will return to court on July 8, this year.
In August 2023, the police officer was arraigned on five counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old and the case was later committed to the High Court for trial and remains pending.
CMC/ah/ir/2026