At the request of Iver Stridiron, acting attorney general, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has granted a six-day extension to Stridiron to file the findings of the AG's investigation into the sexual harassment charges brought against acting Tourism Commissioner, Clement "Cain" Magras.
In late April the governor ordered Stridiron to conduct an investigation and report back to him by May 12. Stridiron said the report was not complete due to "circumstances beyond the control of " the Justice Department.
Lee Rohn, attorney for the Tourism employee who filed the complaint, said the investigator on the case never contacted her until the day the report was due. Rohn further said, no one had contacted her client, Heather Carty, until Rohn put in a call to Stridiron.
Stridiron is quoted in a release from Government House Friday as telling the governor, "Ms. Carty did not cooperate with our investigators until the very last day, that is May 12."
Assistant Attorney General Alva Swan told St. Thomas Source Thursday that there had been some confusion over the date, but that the report was actually due Friday, May 14. He said the report was on Stridiron's desk.
Stridiron told the governor that "immediately upon receipt of your directive to investigate the Carty allegations, efforts were made to interview both Commissioner Magras and Ms. Carty. Commissioner Magras responded promptly.
"However," Stridiron goes on, "our investigator encountered significant difficulty contacting and interviewing Ms. Carty."
He goes on to say that he wrote to Rohn urging that her client cooperate with his investigators.
Rohn has said repeatedly that she does not feel it is proper for the government to investigate the government.
"I don't think he (Stridiron) is impartial. He has already said publicly that ‘someone was playing games' when the charges were filed on the day Magras was to be confirmed by the Senate."
Rohn maintained the reason for the timing was that she and her client both thought the governor was going to withdraw Magras' nomination.
Stridiron said another reason he needed more time was Carty told his investigator there were three people who had pertinent information on the case and two of them are off-island.
The governor had given Stridiron until Tuesday, May 18 to present his report saying, "Based on this turn of events, and in order to ensure that the matter is fully and objectively investigated and reported, I believe an extension is warranted."
