JAMAICA GLEANER: A St James man, who reportedly went to Flankers in Montego Bay, St James, last Monday to meet a man he met on a gay dating site, is now in hospital in critical condition after he was abducted, robbed, had his penis partially severed, and then set on fire.
According to police investigators, they are now searching for three men, including the person the injured 18-year-old man went to meet.
According to police reports, the victim told investigators that the man he met on the gay dating site said he was from Flankers and asked to meet at a location in the St James community last Monday.
He reported that upon reaching the agreed spot, he was met by three men, who abducted him and robbed him of his bank card, cell phone and other valuables. They then beat him, forcing him to divulge his banking information.
According to the police, the victim was held at a location while the men went to an ATM, where they tried to use the bank card to withdraw money.
“They were unsuccessful,” a police officer told The Sunday Gleaner, in reference to their attempt to get cash from the man’s account. “So they returned to where they were holding their victim, and on this occasion, he was forced to transfer money into an account that they gave him.”
The cop said the men, who were reportedly drinking alcohol, then doused their victim with rum and partially severed his penis before setting him on fire and leaving him to die.
“He is a very lucky young man because although they left him in a critical condition, he managed to make his way to a security checkpoint in the community where they assisted him to the hospital, where he was admitted in critical condition,” the policeman stated.
The officer told The Sunday Gleaner that a scheme in which men went on popular gay sites pretending to be seeking sexual partners, which surfaced in Granville several years ago but was subsequently dismantled by the police, appears to be the blueprint used in this case.
“This is not the first incident of this nature being dealt with by the police in St James,” the officer noted.. “There was a similar incident in 2020, where the now-deceased, 43-year-old Allie Jackson, who worked as a warehouse manager, went on a similar gay dating site and hooked up with an alleged single gay companion, who lured him to the Retirement community.
“Jackson, unlike this young man, was not so lucky, because on January 29, 2020, he left to meet his supposedly gay date during his lunch break, but he never returned to work as he went missing,” continued the cop.
“One week after he was reported missing, the police got some leads and discovered Jackson’s X-Trail motor vehicle, which was set on fire and abandoned in Retirement. This led to one suspect being taken into custody.”
Jackson’s decomposed body was later found in a shallow grave on a property on the border of the Retirement and Gutters communities.
Two men – 19-year-old Patrick Williams and 22-year-old Tasico Vassell – were arrested and charged in connection with Jackson’s death.
