St. Vincent PM accused of sexual assault

updated 8:49 p.m. ET March 28, 2008

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent - The prime minister of St. Vincent has been accused of sexual assault for the second time this year, an attorney for the alleged victim said Friday.

Indecent assault charges were filed against Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on behalf of a St. Vincent woman who now lives in Canada, lawyer Kay Bacchus Browne said.

The incident allegedly took place four years ago, Browne said without giving further details. The prime minister took office in 2001.

Government spokesman Jimmy Prince called the accusation false and politically motivated, and Gonsalves also denied it in an interview with the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Corp.

"It is all falsehood," Gonsalves said. "I will let my lawyers deal with that."

Attorneys in St. Vincent can file private criminal complaints without a police report, to be heard in court or dismissed by the director of public prosecution.

Earlier this year, a public prosecutor dismissed for lack of evidence a complaint alleging that Gonsalves assaulted and raped a 36-year-old police officer who guarded his home on Jan. 3.

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