Mugshot of Clement Heyliger. By. THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. CROIX — The former educator who was caught on tape spanking and grabbing the buttocks of a woman in a Divi Casino elevator will have to surrender his passport to the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands and sign other documents related to his bond for a court trial scheduled to begin in December.
Superior Court Judge Ernest E. Morris advised Clement Heyliger, age 58 of Estate Rattan of the details of the bond during an advisement hearing Monday. The suspect was arrested Friday afternoon on a warrant and charged with first-degree unlawful sexual contact, simple assault and battery, aggravated assault, disturbance of the peace, and intimidation.
According to police spokesman Toby Derima, the charges stem from a December 2020 incident at the Divi Casino where Heyliger is alleged to have grabbed, then slapped the woman's buttocks without her consent, according to the police report.
The V.I.P.D. probable cause fact sheet revealed that Heyliger was seen on surveillance video on Dec. 31 in a casino elevator with the victim, who was employed at the gambling establishment, when Heyliger told her, "I should have known you had it in ninth grade."
The victim said she stepped back but Heyliger proceeded to get closer to her and then grabbed her left buttocks with his left hand. The victim said she then pushed Heyliger away and yelled, "What the hell!" according to the probable cause fact sheet.
The victim, who reported the incident to her employer, said she was told by the casino on Jan. 4 to file a police report. The advice came after the casino had generated an internal incident report.
After examining the footage, police officers said they saw the victim being visibly upset during Heyliger's assault. Police said they noticed Heyliger saying something to the victim in the video and "proceeded to backhand slap the victim's left buttocks," according to the probable cause fact sheet.
During her interview with investigators, the victim told police she knew Heyliger "because he was her former high school gym teacher."
Heyliger on Monday during his advisement hearing agreed to comply with court's demands that he surrender his passport and sign other documents related to his bond. A trial date was set for December and to be continued early 2022.
