HARPER, Maryland – Two officers of the Liberia National Police have been arrested and are undergoing investigation for their alleged involvement in the rape of a 16-year-old female in Southeastern Maryland County.

The two officers are Inspector Allen Kparbor and Patrolman Anthony Nyumah of the Maryland County Police Department. The police report states that they are currently being detained and investigated by the LNP Professional Standards Division for negligence in the performance of their duty.

As reported by the police, the victim (name withheld) is a resident of the Airfield Community in Harper, Maryland County. The victim was sexually assaulted while detained in a police holding cell.

The report said on May 4. that the victim stole the amounts of US$3000 and LD$83,000 from her mother. The victim’s mother had filed a complaint with the police, leading to the arrest of the child. According to the document, the daughter admitted to the crime while incarcerated.

The police report added that after the regular visiting hours, a civilian man named Jerome William, who had gone to visit the two officers, entered the holding cell and forcibly abused the child. The victim was then rushed to the J.J. Dossen Hospital, where medical doctors established that she was sexually abused.

When The Bush Chicken contacted police spokesperson Sam Collins for comments, he said the LNP was investigating the two officers as to find out how someone who is not an employee of the institution managed to have access to the holding cell.

LNP Spokesperson Sam Collins, Photo Credit: Zeze Ballah           

Collins added that the LNP currently employs 5000 officers from different communities in Liberia. He said that the behavior exhibited by these officers should be blamed on their communities of origin for giving their recommendation to the LNP.

He pointed out that it becomes an embarrassment to an individual from a particular community to be enlisted into the police force on the basis of deception and later surface to be a criminal. Collins stressed that “it does not only bring disgrace to the LNP but rather the community where the individual hails from.”

He is urging community dwellers to provide the LNP with the factual information about their sons and daughters who have opted to join the force.

Collins said that the findings from the investigation would be made public. He added that the recommendations following the findings would be fully implemented.

Featured image courtesy of Jefferson King