Authorities Probing Allegations
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – A secondary school teacher, accused of sexually grooming and preying on female students, on Tuesday confirmed that he is in a relationship with a former student but denied ever molesting or being involved in any sexual relationship with his own students.
Bishops’ High School teacher, Coen Jackson, flanked by his three attorneys – Jerome Khan, Siand Dhurjon and Priyanka Sookraj – told a news conference that he is now involved in a relationship with a young woman, who once attended the school and that he also had a relationship with another woman, a former student.
He said the relationships started after the young women left the school and entered adulthood insisting there were no relationships before that period.
He admitted that it might not look good morally but it was love and it took place when the two women became adults. He also denied being involved with any other former students.
In a statement read to reporters, Jackson suggested that it was his relationship with one of the young women that prompted Cultural Policy Advisor at the Education Ministry Ruel Johnson to launch a social media campaign against him and submit a letter of complaint against him to Chief Education Officer (CEO) Marcel Hutson, all with the aim of getting him fired.
He said Johnson, who is currently involved with the woman, went “berserk” after learning that he was still in close contact with her. He added that he has severed all communication with the individual out of “respect” for her personal space, while stating that he felt sorry that she had been “dragged into Johnson’s unhinged campaign.”
“But this is not enough for Mr Johnson and what he has done is to use his connections based on his position… to report me using the most outrageous claims with the clear intention of having me fired from The Bishops’ High School,” Jackson was quoted by the Stabroek News as ssying. “I wish to deny the accusations being peddled by Mr Johnson and believe that he is using this as a basis for his self-promotion, disregarding what damage is done to many persons’ profession, reputation, and character.”
“I don’t know that I will ever recover from this,” the 38-year-old Business and Economics teacher, who has since taken a leave of absence, says, acknowledging that his career as a school teacher may be over.
He told reporters that he would welcome a probe by police or any agency and would make himself available for questioning.
The Ministry of Education has since announced that it would be investigating claims that Jackson groomed his female students so as to engage in sexual relations with them once they reached the consent age of 16. – CMC
