San Pedro Man Charged With Raping American Tourist

A San Pedro man has been arrested and charged with the rape of an American tourist. Thirty-five-year-old Oscar Nal was charged yesterday in connection with the incident which occurred in the early hours of Friday morning. The victim reported they were socializing at an establishment in the Boca del Rio area, where she met a man who introduced himself as Omar. The tourists returned to their hotel around 3:00 am and the brother went inside but the woman agreed to take a drive with Omar. She said that he drove her north of the island to a secluded wooden gazebo over the water, where he allegedly raped her and then dropped her back to her hotel. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams has addressed the matter saying that Nal is expected to be arraigned sometime today.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “The tourist reported to the police that she and other persons were socializing. They eventually went to a house or a hotel and they hung out there for a little while more. Thereafter she left the hotel along with an individual to go and drive and during that time the individual took her to a location where he had sexual intercourse with her against her will. Police have since investigated that matter and one individual was charged for the crime of rape against the tourist and he’s expected to appear in court sometime today. We do know that we have tourists that come to our country and many of them tend to feel so comfortable and so relaxed with us Belizeans because again we are a very friendly people and our friendliness is captured by these tourists so they trust us. And it’s a situation where the tourist might have placed her trust in this individual and he took advantage of her. If a woman says no it is no and a man must respect that. I was not there with them but I don’t see no reason why the tourist would lie about him. Certainly he did something she did not consent to and so she reported it to the police and we took the necessary action that we should take and it is going to be a matter later for the judge and jury to decide.” 

Williams notes that the victim had injuries that corroborated her story.