Jamaican Lecturer at Religious University Extradited to U.S. to Face Sexual Assault Charges

  • Janeka Simon
  • July 13, 2022
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Mugshot of Russel McLean.

Last updated at 5:09 p.m. on July 13, 2022.

A Jamaican lecturer who spent his days teaching at a private religious institution was been extradited to the U.S. to face sexual assault charges. 

Russel McLean has been a lecturer at Northern Caribbean University and run by the Seventh Day Adventist denomination, for over 18 years. He was based in the University's College of Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences before he was arrested in May of this year, slapped with the charges, and extradited last week Thursday. Reports are that McLean waived his right to a hearing, helping to speed the extradition process along. 

Before beginning his career in the classroom at Northern Caribbean, McLean is accused of committing a string of sexual assaults dating back to the 1990s. The four sexual batteries he is currently facing charges for occurred in 1996 and 1997 in Margate and Tamerac, two cities in Broward Country Florida that comprise part of the Miami metropolitan area. 

At the time, McLean was working in Nova Southern University's satellite office in Lauderdale Lakes, in a position within the psychology department. He is accused of breaking into the four victims' homes, menacing them with a gun, and then sexually assaulting them. Reporting from Miami's Sun Sentinel indicates that McLean allegedly acknowledged that his victims' ordeals were traumatizing, and would impact them over the long term. To mitigate the effects of his attacks, McLean reportedly offered to leave money so the women could access counseling after his predation. 

During his time with NSU, McLean reportedly lived at one particular address in Margate from 1991 through 1997. Police say that after he left that residence, the new occupant found several guns in the attic of the home along with jewelry, which investigators were able to trace back to the crime scenes in two of the sexual battery cases which had long remained unsolved. 

Eventually, cold case investigators were able to collect DNA from McLean's sister and compare it to evidence left behind at each of the crime scenes. With that comparison, they were able to identify McLean himself as the prime suspect in the four rapes. 

McLean will remain in detention until trial, having been denied bond in the matter.

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