The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAGISTRATE ruled on Friday that the case of a former policeman accused of producing child pornography should have proceeded with a preliminary inquiry after reviewing a legal challenge.

Magistrate Andrew Forbes is presiding over the trial of Edmund Lewis Jr concerning allegations that he produced child pornography videos between July 2014 and January 21, 2015.

The magistrate had required two weeks to make a decision on a legal point raised by Lewis Jr's lead counsel, Wayne Munroe, QC, who questioned whether the alleged offence was reported after the six-month statute of limitations had expired based on the testimony of the complainant.

Munroe had argued that the matter had to be reported within six months after the alleged offence and that based on the teen’s testimony, the alleged incident took place between late June and early July 2014.

Darell Taylor, Crown prosecutor, countered that that the amended law provides for the case to be reported up to one year after the offence.

Magistrate Forbes ruled on Friday that, as the case possibly could have come out of time to the court, the appropriate course of action to take would be for a preliminary inquiry to be held to determine if there was sufficient evidence for the matter to be tried in Supreme Court.

The matter has been adjourned to April 11.

The court had heard prior testimony that Lewis Jr allegedly admitted, in his record of interview with police, to filming his sexual encounters with a teenage girl he had met in September 2014.

However, the accused allegedly said he thought the girl was older than 17 and that she consented to being filmed.

The document’s admissibility was challenged as Mr Munroe argued that not only had his client been under duress when questioned by a senior police officer, but he had also been recovering from a physical attack that required him to receive medication after being discharged from hospital.