Capleton unlikely to miss upcoming shows – attorney
THE ATTORNEY for popular entertainer Capleton has said that it is unlikely the internationally renowned recording artiste will miss any of the events for which he has been contracted to perform.
The 51-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Clifton Bailey, has been in police custody since Friday when he was arrested and charged with rape by the Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse.
He is scheduled to make his first appearance before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court today, and his attorney, Christopher Townsend, told The Gleaner yesterday he would ask for bail.
Capleton is billed to perform in Jamaica and the United States over the next five weeks, and Townsend said he does not foresee a judge imposing bail conditions that would curtail his client’s movement.
“That would be unusual. Everyone knows that his work takes him far and wide,” the attorney said.
The police say that a hairdresser reported that Capleton had sexual intercourse with her against her will inside a New Kingston hotel room where she had gone to groom his hair on April 28.
However, Townsend has criticised the police investigation, saying detectives rushed to charge the entertainer without doing a thorough probe.
EXTORTION EVIDENCE
Townsend told The Gleaner he has WhatsApp messages and voice notes of the woman “demanding that certain things be done”.
The attorney said he offered to hand them over to investigators, but claims this was rejected, and the entertainer advised that he could use them to support his defence at trial.
“It is their signature behaviour. They have an extremely backward approach towards investigations,” he charged.
Townsend said when the woman became aware that an investigation was under way, “she went ahead with her threat” and went to the police.
The police said the woman filed a report on May 2 and acknowledged that Capleton made a report to the Half-Way Tree police that same day alleging that he was being extorted by the complainant.