Mugshot of Ducson Antoine. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. THOMAS – Ducson Antoine, who was arrested this week after a violent confrontation with a female acquaintance, is facing fresh domestic violence charges for an incident which occurred earlier this month.
Police say that a young adult woman reported to the Domestic Violence Unit on August 18 that her uncle, Antoine, had assaulted her days earlier because she has a boyfriend. She said she was out with her boyfriend on August 4 when she got a call from her sister saying that Antoine was looking for her.
According to court documents, she arrived home later that evening to find her uncle, who does not live with her, standing in front of the home. He was holding something in his hands, but she could not tell what it was from inside the car. The teenager told police that she sat in the vehicle, not wanting to leave due to a history of abuse from her uncle and father. Acting on advice from a neighbor to file a police report before returning to the house, the young woman said she spent the night with her boyfriend before heading down to the police station on the morning of August 5 to file the report.
An officer reportedly advised her not to return home, but she succumbed to the entreaties of her sister and returned to the family home. At around 11:30 that morning, Antoine showed up and was let inside. He reportedly opened the teenager’s bedroom door and began beating her with four electrical cords tied together, an assault that lasted for approximately half an hour. She told police that when it was over, he threatened to repeat the process, with a twist. The next time, she told police he said, she would be made to strip naked, tied down, and beaten more severely.
After the assault of August 5, the young lady said she was in too much pain to move, so she remained in her bedroom until the next day, when her boyfriend came to collect her. She filed another police report on August 6. Apart from the violence, she told officers that her uncle also had a history of inappropriate sexualized behavior towards her and other family members. She recounted him referring to her as his “wife” on WhatsApp, and told police that she is uncomfortable to be around. To support her claims of assault, she provided officers with a recording from a mobile phone, where the thudding of lashes could be heard amidst her screams. The footage reportedly did not capture the woman in the recording, but police say her voice could be heard pleading with Antoine to stop beating her.
At the police station, technicians photographed the teenager’s fading bruises and other injuries, and then police visited Antoine in custody to arrest him and filed fresh charges of third-degree assault and aggravated assault and battery as crimes of domestic violence. He was also charged with disturbance of the peace.
Antoine made his second court appearance in as many days on Friday, once again before Magistrate Simone VanHolten-Turnbull. Although the memorandum of proceeding from that advice of rights hearing has not been made available to the public as of press time, court documents indicate that Antoine paid a cash bail component of $2,255 to secure his release ahead of trial, in addition to the $205 paid yesterday to be freed pending trial on those assault charges.
His next court appearance or this latest batch of charges is scheduled for September 6.
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