Jensen La Vende

Se­nior Re­porter

jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt

A promi­nent T&T trade union leader has been charged with two sex­u­al of­fences in the Unit­ed States. 

The union leader faces charges of forcible touch­ing—in­ti­mate parts—and sec­ond-de­gree ha­rass­ment through phys­i­cal con­tact, ac­cord­ing to the Deputy Com­mis­sion­er of Pub­lic In­for­ma­tion De­part­ment of the New York Po­lice.

The man is al­leged to have en­tered the bath­room of a 59-year-old woman while she was top­less, grab­bing her left breast and her vagi­nal area with­out con­sent and ex­pos­ing his pe­nis to her. 

The woman is known to the union leader.

The in­ci­dent al­leged­ly oc­curred at the woman’s New York City apart­ment on Au­gust 9. He was charged two days lat­er. 

Forcible touch­ing is a class A mis­de­meanour of­fence that car­ries a prison sen­tence of up to one year or up to six years pro­ba­tion for a first-time of­fend­er, as it is con­sid­ered both a mis­de­meanour and a sex crime. Sec­ond-de­gree ha­rass­ment car­ries a 15-day jail term.

When con­tact­ed and asked if he was charged with crim­i­nal of­fences in the US, the union leader told Guardian Me­dia that he was “in line to re­turn to Trinidad” and “I would ad­dress that when I get back.”