Jamaica Resorts Covered Up Sexual Assaults, Silenced Victims For Years usatoday.com

She woke up on the shower floor crying and naked – choke marks on her neck, scratches on her body.

The 18-year-old au pair vacationing in Jamaica had no idea how she wound up in a bathroom near the pool until hours later: She had been drugged and raped, she said, and the resort did nothing to help her.

Instead, Sandals Resorts paid her American host family $25,000 as a refund for the July trip and had the parents sign a nondisclosure agreement, vowing to never speak of the incident.

But the victim never signed any such agreement. And she’s talking now.

“They know what happened. They know exactly who he was,” the au pair said. “My silence will not be bought. … They let someone get away with it.”

In the wake of a Free Press investigation that found sexual assaults of tourists are a long-standing and unchecked problem in Jamaica, where an estimated one American is raped a month according to State Department statistics, multiple victims have come forward with stories about cover-ups, confidentiality agreements and payoffs by resorts looking to protect their reputations and revenue.
Over the last several years, Jamaican resorts have silenced multiple sexual assault victims, discouraging them from calling the police or pressing charges, downplaying their fears and offering free hotel stays or cash refunds in exchange for a promise not to sue or tell anyone what happened, the Free Press found. Most of the alleged victims that shared their stories with the Free Press requested anonymity.

In some cases, the resorts convinced guests to just go home.

The silenced tourists include:

► The West Virginia family whose 18-year-old au pair told police she was sexually assaulted on July 4 at the Sandals-owned Beaches Negril Resort & Spa, alleging a resort bartender spiked her drink before a guest choked and raped her. She filed a police report and underwent a rape test. Surveillance video identified the attacker, she said, but no one was arrested. The host family was eventually paid and signed an agreement forbidding them from discussing the case.

► A New England family who said their 16-year-old daughter was raped in a bathroom at Beaches Negril resort in 2013, allegedly by a resort entertainer’s friend who had been given a guest pass. “In the end, we did sign something saying we won’t discuss it and they gave us a free week at another resort, which is little consolation for my daughter’s mental health,” the mother told the Free Press. “It would’ve been a nasty fight anyway.”

► An Atlanta mother who said she was sexually assaulted while in the ocean by a Sunscape Splash resort employee during a trip celebrating her 50th birthday in October. She said resort staff at the property, which is owned by AMResorts, manipulated her into not pressing charges, warning her the criminal process would be lengthy and expensive, and convincing her to “go home and forget about it.”

► A Kansas City woman who said she was sexually assaulted during a sailing excursion by a Sandals Ochi Beach Resort employee in October 2017. She stayed in her room for three days, but eventually reported him to the resort, which, she said, rushed her into signing a nondisclosure agreement in exchange for a $4,500 trip. “It was so fast — and they didn’t give me time to think about anything,” she recalled, adding police were never called. “I said, ‘Do I need to make a police report?’ They said, ‘No. You don’t need to do that. We’ll take care of everything.’ ”

► A North Carolina couple whose honeymoon was ruined after a Sandals resort dancer named ‘Showtime’ allegedly sexually assaulted the wife on the dance floor, putting his hand up her dress, grabbing her genitalia and then forcing her hand on his private part to show his arousal. Sandals gave them a replacement, seven-night trip “as a goodwill gesture” and a complimentary couples’ massage. In return, the couple signed legal forms releasing Sandals from any liability.

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Sandals declined comment on specific allegations, but has denied covering up sexual assault claims at any of its resorts or silencing victims with payoffs.

“Our policies are clear — all reported incidents of sexual assault and harassment are fully reported to law enforcement, investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted by the authorities,” Sandals said in a statement to the Free Press. “This is a core element of our incident response protocol. In no way does Sandals discourage guests or others from reporting allegations of criminal conduct to law enforcement or from cooperating with law enforcement investigations.”

Moreover, the company added: ” … refunds are not offered to guests who report being victims of criminal assault where an active law enforcement investigation or prosecution is underway. Where there is no active criminal investigation or prosecution, on rare occasions, we do offer refunds or similar compensation when our guests feel that we did not meet expectations which may include releases and confidentiality, as is industry practice.”

Sandals stressed that, “No guest is ever forced to sign any document.”

Nevertheless, problems continue to crop up for the resort chain.

This week, a New Jersey couple sued Sandals for $30 million, saying their 2016 wedding in the Bahamas was ruined by a resort butler who allegedly sneaked into the bride’s suite on the eve of her wedding and molested her while she slept. According to the couple’s lawyer, New York attorney John Nicholas Iannuzzi, Sandals discouraged the couple from involving police and offered to refund the $15,000 event, but with a nondisclosure agreement. The couple declined and filed a lawsuit in Manhattan two years later.

“We were not interested in being silenced,” the 32-year-old bride, Ashley Pascarella, told the Free Press. “It was a nominal amount of money compared to what had happened.”

Sandals called the lawsuit “a self-serving, one-sided and incomplete version of an incident reported in 2016.”

“The plaintiffs have unfortunately embarked to influence the case using a choreographed media campaign based on their one-sided narrative,” Sandals said in a statement.
Jamaica’s biggest source of revenue is tourism, drawing a record 4.3 million visitors in 2017 and raking in more than $3 billion in revenue from U.S. tourists alone that year. Americans are the biggest contributors to Jamaica’s tourism industry as more than 1 million U.S. residents vacation there every year, and the numbers keep going up.

Meanwhile, the travel advisories continue.

In addition to Sandals, several Jamaican resorts also have been accused of failing to properly address sexual assault complaints, including: Grand Bahia Principe of the Spanish-owned Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts; Breathless Montego Bay Resort & Spa and Sunscape Splash Montego Bay of Philidelphia-based AMResorts; and Hotel Riu Reggae in Montego Bay, part of Riu Hotels & Resorts based in Spain.

While some victims cut deals with the resorts, or rejected their offers, others have said the resorts took no action in responding to sexual assault claims. Their complaints were ignored altogether, some said, despite repeated phone calls and emails to management asking for help.

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