ROY's LAST FINGER IN JONGFOLO and TENENG's DOWNSTAIRS. PARENTS, POLICE SAY THAT's OK

Lamin Jatta slumps in his plastic chair, exhausted. It is Saturday evening, Dec. 31, and the streets of this TAF residential estate are unusually busy with preparatory activities for the New Year’s events. 

A private residential security guard, Jatta cleans up the house he guards. But the urge to wind down after the exercise could not stop him from jumping to his feet when, at around 6 p.m., he spots a young girl in a school uniform sneaking into a nearby property where Roy Webster lives. 

“He has no gardener, no security, no maid, and no adult visits him. Only children. And only girls," said Jatta, referring to Roy.

At 75 years of age, Roy is a retired engineer from the UK. He has been resident in The Gambia for many years.

“Roy is not known in this estate. I have never known him with the English community,” another neighbour, Peter, a European national, told Malagen.

Behind the voluntary solitude lies a man who allegedly preys on young girls, mostly in their pre-teenage years. Roy was already in trouble with the law for sexual abuse of three other young girls when he invited Jongfolo in his house. 

Multiple sources familiar with the shenanigans of the British national, from the police to child and social welfare advocates, have confirmed the paedophilic behaviour of Roy.   

“It was worse then, say, five years ago,” said Lamin Jatta, Roy’s neighbour. “Kids used to come here in droves. Sometimes, one will go in and the other will wait outside.” 

Jatta has apparently been observant. 

“One time I stopped two girls and asked them why they came to see him and they said their mothers work there as a maid. I told them then why are you always suspicious, observing everywhere before you get in,” he explained. 

“I saw another kid there for a second time. I asked her what she was doing there, and she said Roy gave her books. She said she met Roy at their school gate,” he added. 

Binta Touray, a police sergeant posted at one of the police barracks near where Roy lives told Malagen that the British ‘the people inside the estate, a lot of them have known [Roy] for abuse’.

“They should do something about it. Otherwise, this abuse will continue. It is serious and very sad,” she said. 

Yet, so far, only one case has made it to the courts. Coincidental or not, the case only picked up speed when Malagen started monitoring the proceedings. 

Roy’s rare day in court

It was June 5. Clad in a white short sleeve, dark blue trousers and a black leather shoe, Roy sat on a dry plank of a rosewood bench dressed in a dark-brown polish. 

His mask was pulled up to his chin. His gaze was fixed upon the seat of the magistrate for some time, and then zoomed in on the proverbial door of justice. 

At exactly 14:04 p.m., there was a loud bang and the door swung open. Principal Magistrate Muhammed Krubally, 30 minutes late from the scheduled time, walked through. All rose and bowed. 

Roy gently walked to the dock, holding a pink folder, containing—among other things— a notebook and a Holy Bible.

But would even his Lord want to save him from his alleged sins so grave? 

Today is judgement day. 

The 75-year-old British stands criminally accused of indecent assault. He has abused three tweens - two 11-year-old girls and a 12-year-old. 

Court records show that almost three years ago - on Sept. 24, 2020, some children, boys and girls, were passing by Roy’s gate. He offered candy but only to the girls. He opened his gate, then his door. The girls walked in. The boys stayed outside the gates. And he started touching them inappropriately - on their breasts and buttocks. 

Roy never denied that the kids entered his house. But he has claimed innocence. 

In the court records seen by Malagen, his side of the story is that the girls knocked at his gate and asked for ‘sweets, biscuits and D100 each’. He did admit that he did not allow the boys in his compound. 

He said as he sat down with the girls on the sofa, he heard noise outside his gates. It was the boys, ‘cursing in their language and throwing stones’ in his compound. He said his car got damaged, and one of the boys struck him with a stick.

 This case first came up in court in Sept. 2020. But it suffered one setback after another. The sitting on March 12, 2023, was a turning point. At this time, Malagen was already investigating Roy for abuse of Jongfolo and Teneng. The case of the three girls became a matter of interest. With our eyes on the ground, a judgement was delivered in three months.  

For the two years plus that this case has been in court, there is no trace of media coverage. What explains this is unclear, but for reasons that have not been confirmed, the police on the case do not seem to welcome press enquiries. 

 “Why are you asking about this case?” the prosecuting police officer, Amadou Keita, snapped when contacted about the case.

When informed of our investigation into broader issues of Roy’s predatory tendencies, he sounded even more furious. “I have nothing to tell you,” he retorted, and cut off. He treated a BBC journalist working on the case with a similar attitude. 

 Not just the media. The parents of the victims said they have been largely kept in the dark about the case. 

“The police took the statement of every girl who was involved. When the case went to the court, it was only my daughter who testified and my stepson who went there once. Thereafter, we don’t hear anything anymore,” said Peter, the father of one of the children.”

“Even with the transfer of the case to Banjul, nobody told us,” he added. 

Throughout the trial, only two witnesses testified, both of them minors.  

After a low key trial, Roy has been found guilty as charged. 

In his sentencing though, Magistrate Krubally said he has found Roy’s health condition to be ‘shocking and touching’. He said he would exercise clemency also because Roy is reported to be a first time offender .  

He added that even though the law under which Roy is charged - section 126 of the Criminal Code - requires a custodial sentence of two years, he would exercise his ‘legal discretion’ as per section 29 of the Criminal Code to impose a fine.  He ordered Roy to pay a fine of D5000 (approx. £67) and pay D75,000 (approx. £1014) - D25,000 each - as compensation to the three victims. 

Roy gently walked out of the dock, and approached his lawyer for clarity on his obligations.

It was not a usual court environment after a verdict. No waiting family member, or a caring friend in the audience. The audience was just the lawyer, court clerks, and the police prosecutor. 

Malagen has confirmed that the families have received their money on June 12, about one week after the judgement. 

‘Paradise of sex abuse’

Sex abuse is reported to be widespread in The Gambia. Last year, the Serrekunda General Hospital recorded an average of 1 case every three days.

Crime data available at the Gambia Police Force shows that rape has increased from 28 cases in 2016 to 61 in 2021. A total of more than 270 cases have been registered from 2016 to 2021.

For activists like Fatou Baldeh, the data on sex abuse is not an accurate reflection of the prevalence  of the menace.

“Generally, data on sexual violence is very limited,” the founder and CEO of Women in Liberation and Leadership (WILL), told Malagen. 

“Through my engagement with women, I have come to realise that many were victims of sexual violence when they were young, and most of them said they did not report the violation against them.” 

What is clear though is that children are not spared. The crime data shows a growing trend of defilement of children under 18 years, from 23 in 2016 to 49 in 2021. 

“When it comes to sexual abuse of minors, it is even worse,” Fatou Baldeh explained. “The fact that you have a lot of adult women reporting experiences of sexual abuse that occurred when they were minors is an indication that sexual violence towards children is very common in our society.”  

The situation is not helped by the country’s reputation as a top spot for sex tourism. Paedophilia among tourists or tourists turned residents is not uncommon. 

Justice for sexual abuse crimes is rare. The Ministry of Interior has recorded an estimated 242 cases of rape from 2017 to 2021. However, media reports show that only over 69 cases reached the High Court during the same period. 

With a climate of impunity, the ground appears fertile for child sex abuse. With a prevailing culture of silence, coupled with high incidence of poverty, and weak institutions such as police and health facilities,  predators exploit the vulnerability of children. The case for which he was convicted, Roy enticed the children with sweets. In the latest incident, the parents of the girls are petty traders who sell seasonal fruits. When not in school, the girls help out their parents. 

“These children selling in the streets are always abused,” said Kawsu Ceesay, the police officer who was handling Roy’s case in respect of the abuse of Jongfolo and Teneng. 

Going by Ceesay’s point, young girls will perhaps continue to be abused. On Malagen’s several visits to Roy’s compound, children carrying plates on their heads selling fruits in the estate is a common sight. 

How Roy allegedly abuses girls

When Lamin Jatta spotted Jongfolo entering Roy’s compound, he contacted the police at the residence of the Inspector General of Police. A police corporal, Bakary Sanneh, was deployed to the scene. He stood at Roy’s gate, and in little under an hour, the young girl came out. 

“She was wearing a school uniform,” Sanneh told Malagen.  

“At first she told me she was there to help Roy wash his dishes. I asked her if her parents knew about it. She said her mother used to work for Roy. Then, I told her, ‘let's go to your mom’. As we walked, she stopped and said, ‘Uncle, forgive me.’ I told her, ‘forgive you for what’.”

Then, came the chilling details. The girl narrated how she and her friend, Teneng, have been sexually abused by Roy. 

“We go to his house. He undresses himself and puts his penis in my mouth to suck. He also undresses me and licks my vagina. Then he would use his last finger and put it in my vagina,” Sanneh quoted Jongfolo as saying.   

For Corporal Sanneh, listening to Jongfolo was not easy to bear. “Imagine this could have been my daughter. Such were the thoughts running through me,” he told Malagen. 

Sanneh took her to the barracks, and the officers picked Teneng, Roy. The parents also gathered. 

At the paramilitary barracks, police sergeant Aja Jammeh said she worked on Jongfolo and Teneng to open up and tell their stories.  

“[Jongfolo] was afraid,” Aja told Malagen, explaining how she convinced them to tell their story. 

“The kids said they do go to [Roy] to sell fruits. He buys their fruits and undresses them. He’d have sex with them. They have become used to the place. He gives them D300. We saw the money with her. Her shoes were damaged and I had to give her mine. I was very angry that day. Their family members were here that day.” 

Aja said Roy told her  he did not have sex with the kids. “[But] he said he undresses them and fondles them. He also said he hugs and kisses them. But the kids said he had had sex with them.” 

The gathering was reported to be emotional. “The parents were crying,” one of the PIU officers present told Malagen. 

“I heard him say that he used his fingers. He didn’t use his manhood…” Teneng’s father told Malagen.   

The PIU personnel drove Roy and the children to the nearby police station where police officer, Kawsu Ceesay, was expected to take the next action. 

Ceesay appears to be no stranger to Roy or the circumstances under which the alleged abuse occurred. 

“The problem is that the parents would give watermelon to the children to go and sell it to the toubab. The mother of one of the children knows the toubab. He told them to go and see the toubab because he gives them money. They know him. This is not the first time. They used to go there,” he told Malagen. 

Yet, it is the same Kawsu who has refused to put Roy on trial, claiming that the evidence he has is ‘packets of manpower’, a sex enhancement drug he found in Roy’s house. 

“We are police officers. We do not do magic. We can only rely on the information sent to us,” he told Malagen.

However, he has admitted that ‘one of the girls told me that he [Roy] used his tongue, and the other told me he used his finger.’

Nothing happened 

Roy Webster was arrested on 31 Dec., 2022. Seven months on and counting, he continues to walk free on the streets. He was detained by the police for three nights and released on bail.

On March 12, he was sitting on a dilapidated chair at the reception of the Magistrates Court in Banjul, awaiting the trial to resume, when Malagen approached him for an interview regarding his latest case. 

You are Mr Roy?

That is true. 

I was at the police station on January 3. You were arrested

Okay  

You face allegations you had a sexual relationship with Jonfolo and Teneng 

No. It is all being quashed. It is all finished. Officer Ceesay said it is all finished. You are a journalist? 

Yes

Ah, now then, I have nothing to talk to you about. Wait for my lawyer to come.

Kawsu Ceesay, the police officer handling Roy’s case, dismissed Roy’s claims as inaccurate. 

So far though, he has not charged him with any offence. He said his investigation has found no evidence to put Roy on trial. 

But what else could Ceesay be looking for? 

In what appears to be an attempt to obstruct the pursuit of justice, the police and parents have made several assertions that do not seem to be consistent with available evidence. 

Officer Ceesay told Malagen that the doctor who examined the girls said they were not penetrated. 

“We rushed the children to the hospital—when they were examined by the doctor—the hymens were intact,” he added. 

When Malagen met Jongfolo’s mother over the issue, she also said she was ‘standing right there [with the police] when the doctor told her that nothing happened to her daughter’. 

However, when the reporter called the said doctor and placed him on a loudspeaker so he could confirm what had been alleged of him, Jongfolo’s mother walked away, saying ‘we are not interested in this.” 

Dr. Njie, who examined the children, said the police and parents did not return to collect the medical report. 

“For both of them, their hymen is broken,” he told Malagen. “We cannot say what did that. If we had seen the children immediately, there may be traces of sperm and others in the vagina. But in this case, considering the history too, it is safe to conclude that rape occurred.”

On March 14, Officer Ceesay told Malagen that he had visited the paramilitary barracks where he met a female OC called Ramatoulie who told them she is not aware of the case or witnesses in connection to it. 

Ramatoulie denied meeting Ceesay or his boss Sillah over this matter. “If they need a statement, they contact the PIU and the officer will be made available to them for a statement. If they did not do that, how can they blame anyone?,” she said.  

Bribe taken? 

In the face of inconsistencies in the claims made by police and parents, and lack of cooperation - and even threats - from the parents, Malagen resorted to undercover reporting methods to dig further into the case.  

Our undercover reporter posed as Roy’s girlfriend. She reached out to Officer Ceesay, and invited him to lunch at a restaurant to discuss ways of settling the case out of court. 

Ceesay came to lunch with a colleague and both ate food, Chicken Yassa with rice,  paid for by our reporter. That was not enough for him. He took from us ‘a D2000 gift’.

During the one hour conversation, he narrated how he told Roy not to give him anything. “Because I know [the] Whiteman very well. They can give you this today and tomorrow they say I will give you this amount,” he said. 

In a strange irony, he said he had told Roy that “whatever you want to give me as a person, that is fine. It is not a problem.” 

Ceesay also revealed how he tried to help ‘a stubborn Roy with vital information’, but Roy does not pick his calls. 

“Sometimes when I call him, he may think that what he promised is what I am calling him for,” he said. 

More tellingly, he revealed how he instructed Roy to compensate the parents of the children. 

“I am the one who even told him to compensate the family,” he said.  

Do you know how much he gave them? 

“No,” he added, “because I don’t want to know. But I told him that despite they [the parents] have no evidence, compensate them because tomorrow they may come and say they have evidence.”  

Did he really compensate them?    

“Yes, he did,” he answered. 

He also revealed how he stopped journalists and child welfare officials from looking into the case. 

“He is very lucky,” Officer Ceesay said, referring to Roy. “Journalists came mainly for him. Social welfare came mainly for him. CPA came mainly for him, and they all said to take this man to court. It is because of me, I break them. He knows I know.” 

Throughout his interactions with Malagen earlier on, Ceesay insisted that there was no evidence that Roy abused the children. Over lunch, he said the children made the allegations of having sexual affair with Roy out of fear, adding it is not true that Roy used his finger to penetrate them. 

He however confessed that Jongfolo told him that Roy abused them. 

“[Jongfolo told me that we used to go to this man’s house but what he normally tells us is to open our legs or remove our underwear to let him see, but they don’t do it. They laugh with him and then go. She said she never does it but out of fear she said that he put his fingers in them. 

“I said to her, do you know that that is dangerous because there are people calling me and I already tell them what you have told me and now I have to lie again. Then I bring them to the office so that they will be able to tell me something, but I could see if you want to threaten or punish them they might tell you something that is not true.” 

Malagen investigations reveal that the police have from the onset been eager to let Roy negotiate his way out of the case.  

On Jan. 3, Malagen had an encounter with another police officer, Lamin Suwareh, who goes by the nickname Morota. He is confirmed to be the one who accompanied Kawsu Ceesay on the raid on Roy’s house. 

Taking Malagen reporter for a guy who had come to bail Roy, he said ‘Ceesay should help him [Roy].’

“It is a complicated matter. It will be fine. Let him [Roy] liaise with Ceesay. If the parents come, they negotiate everything and finish it… That is the best thing than wasting time or talk, talk there.” 

An anonymous source familiar with the case said Ceesay took money from Roy. “They were given D5000. Two of them, each got D2500. He [Kawsu] claimed he thought the money was from the family to show appreciation for their efforts. He said on the whole the money came from Roy Webster.” 

When contacted, Ceesay denied receiving money from Roy. “There are some things going wrong,” he said. “I know what happened.”

However, he would not say what went wrong. 

As Roy walks free, and Ceesay turns a blind eye, moves on to another case, the families of victims could be living with the consequences of their actions. The children who have so far not benefited from any psychosocial support, could be scarred forever.