Capleton freed from rape charge

Veteran reggae/dancehall artiste, Capleton, has been freed from a rape charge after his case was dismissed Wednesday afternoon.

The 51-year-old musician, whose real name is Clifton Bailey, received the news during a committal proceeding inside the Kingston & St. Andrew Parish Court in Half Way Tree. These proceedings are done to ascertain whether there is sufficient evidence requiring the defendant to stand trial.

Represented by attorney-at-law, Christopher Townsend, Capleton saw his case dismissed on the grounds that there was no prima facie case. This means there was no cause of action or defence established by a party’s evidence to justify a favourable verdict that cannon be rebutted by the other party in question.

This concludes 10 months of legal wrangling stemming from an alleged incident in April of last year which brought about the charge. It was alleged that Capleton hired a female hairdresser to groom his hair at a New Kingston hotel where he was accused of sexually assaulting the hairdresser. The St. Mary native vehemently denied the accusations, with his attorney charging that the hairdresser tried to extort his client.

Capleton had been on bail since Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offence and Child Abuse (CISOCA) detectives arrested and charged him with the offence last April.